


All About Soul

by everystareverywhere



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Movie crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-25
Packaged: 2018-01-18 13:45:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1430677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everystareverywhere/pseuds/everystareverywhere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose Tyler moves into her new apartment and gets an adventure she never could imagine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the movie Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. It's All Ages now, but it does become mature later on. There will be a warning for that chapter.

_“It’s all about soul._  
 _It’s all about joy that comes out of sorrow.”_  
-Billy Joel,  _All About Soul_  
  
James Noble ran down the hallway of the hospital, his Converse sneakers thumping as they hit the ground. He made a sharp right, making the tail of his white jacket flutter against the wind. Running past other doctors, patients, and concerned friends and relatives, James finally found the room he was looking for and ran inside, throwing the door open in the process.   
  
The only person sitting in the room, looked up startled. That was, however, until she noticed who it was.   
  
“Dr. Noble,” Martha Jones said, fixing the book in front of her as she shook her head, “must you run around like there is a great emergency?”   
  
“We’re in a hospital!” the doctor answered, walking over to the coffee maker and grabbing a cup. “This place is filled with emergencies!”   
  
“Yes, and we don’t need any more.” She watched him as he pressed a few buttons on the machine, groaned when it did nothing, before slapping it on the side. That must have worked, since a dark syrup came out. “How many cups have you had?”   
  
He shrugged. “I lost count after six. Ten, maybe.” After the machine made what had to be an unhealthy noise, James took his cup and took a sip. Making a face, James placed it on the table where Martha was sitting before sitting down across from her. “This is the most disgusting stuff I think I have ever had.” With that, he took another sip.   
  
“Then why are you drinking it?”   
  
He shrugged. “Keeps me awake.”   
  
Shaking her head, Martha had to ask, “How long have you been on call?”   
He looked up, squinting his eyes as he thought. “Thirty-six hours.” When Martha continued looking at him, he relented. “Forty-six?”   
  
“Dr. Noble, please  _go home_. You are in no condition to work. And you know Harriet will fire you if she finds out that you’ve been here way past what is considered healthy. When was the last time you slept?”   
  
“Why am I being interrogated?” he asked, placing both hands on the slightly warm cup. “I get this enough from my sister.”   
  
“I’m just concerned, is all,” Martha said, reaching over with her left hand to lay across one of his. “You can’t possibly think straight after forty-six hours on call.”  
  
“Oh, but I’m brilliant! I could go  _days_  without sleeping and still be sharp as a…you know…that sharp thing.”   
  
Martha tried not to grin. “A knife?”   
  
He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “Yes, that! I’m as sharp as a knife.”   
  
Martha shook her head, a grin appearing on her face. “Doctor,  _go home_.”   
  
He looked down at her hand before grinning up at her. “How’s Tom?”   
  
Martha removed her hand and looked down at her wedding ring with a smile. “He’s fine. Good. He’s in pediatrics now, did you know that?”   
  
Moving the cup to his lips, he answered, “I had heard rumors, yes.”   
  
“But we’re doing fine. What about you? Any lucky ladies?”   
  
James blew through his lips. “Come on, Martha, you know me better than that.”   
  
“Broke things up with Renee, eh?”   
  
“And not a moment too soon. She almost threw a lamp at me, that crazy woman.”   
  
“That’s what you get for dating an OB-GYN. I told you they were insane.” When he nodded in agreement, Martha continued, “But that must have been weeks back. Nothing since?”   
  
“Honestly, do you converse with my sister on a regular basis? Because I swear I just had this conversation with her a week ago. No, you know what, I  _know_  I just had this conversation with her a week ago. I’m fine being single.”   
  
“No, you’re really not. You need to have someone take care of you.”   
  
“I’m not a child, Martha. I can take care of myself.”   
  
Martha looked at him for a moment, biting her lip. “If you say so.”   
  
James nodded before standing up and taking a sip of his coffee. “I’ll have you know that I got two marriage proposals today,” he said, before throwing his half-filled cup into the garbage.   
  
“A proposal from a feisty seventy-year-old patient who has dementia doesn’t count.”  
  
He shrugged before saying, “I think it does.” With that, he walked out of the room, waving towards Martha who gave a small wave back.   
  
James walked down the hallway, his hands in the pockets of his pinstriped trousers. He bumped into a nurse, who informed him that one of his patients wanted to speak to him immediately. Knowing that that could not mean anything good, James walked towards the room before he saw the Chief of Medicine, Harriet Jones.   
  
Harriet Jones was a really kind-hearted woman, but she was also a stickler for the rules. James and her didn’t see eye-to-eye on everything, and they often could be found fighting in the hallways, because James would try to sneak a person who had no health insurance under the radar, and Harriet would catch him. James was clever, though, and knew how to take care of paperwork so that everyone got the best chance they could, regardless if they could pay for it or not.   
  
James concern was always the patients, while Harriet’s concern was the hospital. The fact that they two didn’t always got side-by-side was something that aggravated James greatly.   
  
But Martha was correct before when she said that Harriet would fire James if he was here too long. Tired doctors made for clumsy mistakes, and Harriet had none of that. James tried to put a pep in his step, just so she wouldn’t catch on on how long he’s been here. He’s had at least three warnings about staying longer than he needed to, but since he had nothing to go home to, James never felt like he had to leave.   
  
James stopped right in front of Harriet as James’ biggest rival, Dr. Harold Saxon came up next to him. Saxon was a bit shorter than James–who stood an inch over six feet–and had dirty blonde hair and green eyes. He was extremely cold with his patients, never treating them, but rather just the infection, whereas James treated the patient first. Though Saxon was horrible when it came to bed-side manor, he had an amazing record, something James was hesitant to admit.   
  
Before anyone could say a word, however, a nurse ran over to them saying, “Gun shot wound, no exit. Just came in.”   
  
Harriet looked at the two men, asking a silent question that they both knew how to answer.   
  
“Sixteen hours,” Dr. Saxon said proudly.   
  
James mumbled. “Slightly more than that.”   
  
Harriet looked at Saxon. “Go,” she said before he took off towards the surgery room, waiting to speak to the head surgeon. She looked back at James and sighed. “Do I want to know?”   
  
He pursed his lips. “Hmm, no.”   
  
She shook her head. “Fair enough. Just get out of here.”   
  
“See you tomorrow,” James said, giving her a mock salute.   
  
“Oh, James. I wanted to speak to you, actually.” Harriet turned towards him, lightly grabbing his arm.   
  
James slipped his hands into his pockets, sure that everything was fine, but still the words ‘I want to speak to you’ always got his stomach in knots.   
  
“As you know, I’ve been looking for a new Chief Resident. And well, I have to say your credentials, as well as Dr. Saxon’s, are very impressive.”   
  
“Oh, thank you,” James said, mildly flattered, but at the same time not sure where this conversation was going.   
  
“However, I have noticed that…well, you do spend much too much time here. And as a fellow human being, I have to say that it’s disgusting that you work with very little sleep. However, as the Chief of Medicine…well, I like your dedication.”   
  
James felt his heart stop. “Are you saying…?”   
  
Harriet gave him a wink. “Keep up the good work.”   
  
Dr. Jones walked around him, going towards her office, a slight grin on her face. James was trying not to laugh out loud. If he was reading between the lines correctly, she just offered him the job. Jumping into the air, James ran off towards his patient’s room, taking care of that. When he was finished, he was trying not to show his excitement too much as he walked to the locker room, though it was extremely difficult. The new Chief Resident wouldn’t be picked until the following week–officially–but James was certain that he had it.   
  
Once he reached the locker room, he quickly did his combination before putting his white coat into the locker and grabbing his suit jacket. James always chose comfort over style, which was why he always wore a brown pinstripe suit with an oxford and tie, while on his feet were a pair of converses. Sometimes he switched it up with a blue suit, but the converses always remained. And his hair looked like he constantly ran his fingers through it, though he actually worked on it every morning, using the backcombing method. His style may have been a bit odd for a doctor, but all of his patients were happy with him and his upbeat personally. And he loved his job, even if it left little time for anything else.   
  
As he walked towards the exit, James called his best friend/big sister, Donna. Donna was actually older than him by seven minutes, though she lorded it over him through their youths. They didn’t look anything alike, though they did have the same personally. James had brown hair, brown eyes, a tall slender body, and freckles that dusted his upper cheeks and nose. Donna had long ginger hair, bluish-green eyes, a fuller body and freckles on her arms and hands rather than on her face. But they both loved their families and friends more than anything and were fiercely protective. Especially since it was just the two of them.   
  
Donna picked up after two rings. “Oi! Spaceman! Are you coming or what?”   
  
James checked his watch. 7:03. He was already three minutes late. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a few. Leaving work now.”   
  
“Good, because I’m making your favorite!”   
  
“Baked ziti?”   
  
Donna paused. “Okay, you’re second favorite.”   
  
“Shepherd’s pie?”   
  
“Yes! And Emma and Delilah are helping me make dinner–Oh, Emma, no don’t do that!” Donna yelled away from her phone, speaking to her daughter. “Sorry. Anyway, Emma’s mashing the potatoes–though between you and me there might be extra flavor in there, if you know what I mean–and Delilah is tossing a salad right now. Anddddd, there goes the tomatoes! Delilah, no, don’t throw them! Emma, stop!”   
  
As Donna put down her phone to correct her twin daughters, James smiled, slightly laughing at his older sister. But at the same time, he felt a twing of something in his gut. Something that felt like jealously, but he was positive it couldn’t be that. James wasn’t really the domestic type–though because of the hospital, he wasn’t any type at all. He barely had time to breathe, let alone settle down.   
  
“Donna?” he asked, as he walked towards his car. “Donna!”   
  
“I’m here,” she said, getting back on the line. “Sorry. The girls just found out that if you throw a tomato against the wall, it makes a pretty red color.” She groaned. “I curse the day I decided to have children. You’re so lucky that you don’t have this.”   
  
And there was that feeling again. “Yeah,” he mumbled.   
  
“Oh!” Donna said, more upbeat. “I almost forgot to tell you, I invited someone to come over.”   
  
James got into his dark blue Audi and sat behind the wheel, almost dreading the answer to his question. “Donna, this isn’t a set up, is it?”   
  
When she paused, James groaned loudly, not realizing that his sister was began talking. “…in years and I just thought that it would a good match.”   
  
Turning on his engine, James said, “Donna, really I don’t need to be set up on a blind date. I’m fine on my own.”   
  
“No, you’re really not.”   
  
“Have you been talking to Martha again?”   
  
“James…”   
  
“Donna, I’m still coming, but I want you to know I am not happy about this,” he said, pulling out of his spot and going towards the exit.   
  
“Duly noted. Now come on! A friend of mine is coming too and so is his friend, who are already late and now so are you.”   
  
“I’m on my way.”   
  
“Good. See you in a few.”   
  
“Yep,” he said, popping his ‘p’ before hanging up. He waited for traffic to open up before driving into his lane. He drove about a mile before he got a message on his phone. At a stop sign he checked it:  
  
 _My friend said they’re really running late, but it would be nice if you could be here when they get here. — D_  
  
James sent a reply ( _I’M ON MY WAY NOW! GEEZ!_ ) before moving into the intersection.   
  
The last thing he saw was white and he heard a loud crash before everything went black. 


	2. Chapter 2

Rose Tyler took a deep breath before rolling over in her bed. Eyes still shut, she smiled slightly before reaching out and touching a cold, unused pillow. Rose knitted her eyebrows, opening one eye slowly before sitting up and looking around the room, trying to remember where exactly she was. But then her memories came crashing back and she flopped back onto the bed, her hand covering her eyes. She remembered.

She was in a town named Gallifrey. She planned on moving here months ago, but was delayed by lawyers in London, so her moving date was cancelled. Then on top of that, the seller of an apartment that she had her eye on decided to give to another buyer, since she wanted to sell immediately and Rose just didn’t want to move in until she had all of her business in London finished. When she finally was able to move, the apartment she wanted was gone, so she was currently staying at her friend’s house until she was able to get back on her feet.

Sarah Jane Smith was a friend of her mother’s and had moved to Gallifrey years back. She loved the simplicity of the town and when Rose said she needed a change, Sarah Jane instantly recommended that she move here. It had everything Rose needed, which was basically no remainders of _him_.

Gallifrey was only an hour drive from London, so she could still her mother often, which was something that Rose wanted. She wanted far enough from her mother so she wouldn’t be up every day, but close enough to still see each other. But it was nice to be in a place where no one really knew her, and she could start over. Because that’s what Rose Tyler needed more than anything, a do-over.

Pushing any thoughts of _him_ out of her mind, Rose climbed out of bed and went to the en suite. After doing her business and taking a shower, Rose dressed and went downstairs to find Sarah Jane sitting on the couch, enjoying a cup of tea while the news played low on the telly.

“Morning, Rose. How was your night?”

“Fine,” Rose said, walking towards the kitchen and making herself a cup of tea. “And yours?”

“Oh, fine. Fine. So are you looking today?”

Rose walked back into the living room and sat down on the opposite side of the couch. “Yeah. I’m meeting with the realtor agent today. She said that she has found me a couple of apartments that are in my price range.”

Sarah Jane nodded. “Best of luck, then.”

Rose quickly got ready before leaving and going to the realtor’s office. She didn’t need to go far, since Sarah Jane lived near the agent. The realtor was a young preppy woman name Lydia Moss—“That’s Lydia with a ‘y’” she said when they were first introduced, making Rose want to roll her eyes—and though she was extremely nice and very personable, Rose as just not in the mood to make nice. She smiled when she felt she needed to, but otherwise remained stone face.

The apartments that Lydia showed her were not bad, but not terrific either. In every apartment there was just something that Rose just did not like. Maybe it was the view or the layout or the location. But Rose just could not find the apartment she was looking for. She wasn’t even sure she knew what she wanted, but from what she had seen, none of these apartments had it. Whatever _it_ was.

“That’s okay,” Lydia said when they went back to the office after looking at five apartments all over town. “I’m sure we’ll find something you want. After all, who finds their dream home in one day?” She laughed.

Rose gave a forced smile and bit her tongue to stop herself from saying, “ _Yeah, my dream home is back in London with the rest of my dreams. So, thanks for_ that _lovely reminder._ ”

The next day wasn’t that much better. Lydia tried to make the best out of every situation, which Rose had to give her credit for. Some of the houses were just plain _bad_ , but Lydia tried to sell it as best as she could.

After walking out of the third apartment that day, Lydia turned towards Rose and said, “I’m just not sure what exactly I should be looking for. Maybe if you gave me more than just a price range, I would have some idea of what you want.”

Rose shrugged, shoving her hands in the pockets of her sweater. “I’m not sure what I’m looking for either. So that makes two of us.”

Lydia nodded. “Right. Well, maybe are you looking for more open space? Because I could look for something that is further out of town.”

“Yeah, that’s good.” More space away from everyone else. That sounded like something Rose needed.

Lydia gave a huge smile and sighed happily. “Oh goodie! Okay, I can get started on that right away. I might have just the place for you!”

The place she had in mind was much further than Rose wanted to go and it was a house, not an apartment. It was also above Rose’s price range. Rose instantly shook her head, not even bothering to get out of the car. Lydia sighed in frustration and turned the car around.

Back on the main road, Rose was watching Lydia through the window of the shop talking adamantly to someone on the phone. Lydia needed to return back to her office—apparently she had a phone conference that she completely forgot about—and Rose leaned against the car and waited for her to come out. It was then that she saw it.

It was taped to the inside window of the realtor’s office: an advertisement for an apartment in a building three blocks away that was fully furnished and had stairs that lead to an opened roof. It was just in Rose’s price range and sounded almost too good to be true.

When Lydia came back out, a smile on her face, Rose pointed to the ad. “How about we try here?”

Lydia looked almost stunned, maybe because she never even saw that ad or maybe because that was the first time _Rose_ had suggested a place. “Er, sure! Let’s go!”

The building itself was a beautiful canary yellow that had white trim around the windowsills and black framing along the roof. Rose could tell that it was the only house on the block that had a flat roof and for reasons unknown to her, she was interested in that.

The landlord didn’t live in the apartment. Instead the whole building was leased, each floor had its own tenant. Lydia called the owners and talked to them while Rose admired the outside. When she got off the phone, she said, “The owners say the man who lives on the first floor, Mr. Mott, has the keys. We can go up and look.”

It was spacious, something that Rose had been looking for. Lydia talked to the Mr. Mott—who was a much older gentleman who insisted they call him Wilf—as Rose looked around, admiring all the dark wood furniture and black couch and armchairs. It had one bedroom, which had a bed, dresser, and nightstand; one bathroom; and the kitchen had everything from the refrigerator to a coffee maker that looked like it had seen better days. There were stairs near the door which lead up to an open roof, giving a fantastic view of the town and the area just outside. It was truly beautiful and Rose couldn’t believe that she actually loved it.

Lydia found her upstairs and gasped when she saw the view. “How was this not snatched up?” she muttered to herself before clearing her throat. “Okay, Rose, so here’s the deal. I spoke not to the landlord, but to the family that apparently owns this apartment. It will come fully furnished, all personal items have been taken out. There’s no one-year lease, it’s a month-to-month sublet.”

“Why?”

Lydia shrugged. “I don’t know. Some family matter. Anyway, you have to pay on the first of each month, no exceptions—”

“I’ll take it,” Rose said firmly.

Once Lydia got over her shock of hearing that Rose wanted it, she sprung into action and immediately ran down the stairs to call the landlord.

Once Rose signed a contract that simply states that if she slips in the apartment, she can’t sue the landlord, she moved in.

The whole process took less than a day, since Rose barely brought anything up with her. After placing her personal items in the correct spots and getting cable set up, Rose was good to go. She sat down at her dining room that was littered with bills that she brought with her, as well as her laptop and a cup of tea. Rubbing her eyes, Rose got up from her laptop to get a yoghurt from the fridge.

“Who the hell are you?!” she heard a man shout as she walked back into the dining room.

Rose shrieked as loud as she could, accidently dropping the yoghurt in the process. Since she already opened it, strawberry yoghurt splattered on the ground, getting on her jimjams as well.

But her heart pounded as she looked at the young man in front of her. Standing on the opposite side of the table was a man in his early thirties with brown hair that was all spiked up, sideburns, and wearing a brown pinstripe suit. He was clearly fuming.

Rose grabbed at her heart, trying to stay calm but also alert. She looked around for what she could possibly use as a weapon, and saw a statue a friend of her’s had made years ago. She reached for it slowly while asking, “Me? Who the hell are you?”

 “There is nothing worth stealing in this apartment!” he said, sounding frantic but at the same time determined.

Rose’s hand fell down to her side as she looked at him. “What?” He thought she was a burglar? In her own apartment?

“There’s no drugs or money or—”

“I’m not stealing anything!” Rose shouted. 

He looked at her outfit before saying, “I could help you get into a homeless shelter. I’ll give you money and cab fare and a good meal, but please could you just _leave_?”

Certain she misheard him, she said “Homeless…? I’m not homeless! _This_ is my home!” gesturing to the apartment.

The man looked at her with an expression that could only be described as pity. “Okay, you can’t live here. Because _I_ live here.”

“Since when?”

“Since I rented it.”

Rose groaned. “You rented it?”

“Yeah.”

Rubbing her hands over her face, Rose muttered, “I really don’t need this.”

“What?”

“This is a rent scam, isn’t it?”

The man’s eyebrows knitted together. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you see? There are probably like six other people who paid a deposit and now have a key to this apartment.”

“And moved in all of their things?”

“Yeah—Wait, what?”

“These are my things,” he said, gesturing to the table in front of him. “That’s my table, that’s my telly, those are my drawings—” When he looked at the wall and saw Rose’s picture of her family, he snapped his head to look at her. “Where are my paintings?”

“There were none there when I moved in.” 

“I can’t believe this!” the man shouted as someone pounded on the door. “I can’t believe this!” He walked towards it, clearly going to answer. Rose following quickly behind, but not until she had the statue in her hand first.

The person at the door pounded again, this time yelling, “Rose? Rose, are you alright?!” It was Wilf and Rose quickly went to answer it, wondering where the other man went.

“Mr. Mott, oh thank God, there’s a man in my apartment!”

He stepped inside and said, “What? Who? Where is he? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I don’t know who he is, though. He went to answer the door and…” Her eyes looked at the stairs. She whispered, “He must have went upstairs.”

“I’ll check,” he said, but Rose showed him her statue and insisted that she would be fine. He clearly wasn’t happy, but let Rose go.

She crept up the stairs, trying not to make too much noise so he didn’t know she was coming. When she opened the door for the roof, Rose held the statue like an American baseball bat and looked around. No one was there.

Rose ran back down, asking, “Do you have him?”

Wilf shook his head. “I checked the whole apartment. No one’s here.”

Rose was completely perplexed. “I…I swear I swore someone…”

“Were you working on your computer?” he asked, nodding toward her table.

“Well, yeah…but…”

“Perhaps you’re just exhausted. After all, you’ve had a couple of stressful days looking for apartments and moving in and all.”

“You think I just imagined him?”

“Anything is possible.”

“He seemed so _real_.”

“A good dream then. Anyway, are you gonna be alright?”

“What? Oh, yeah, I’ll be fine. Honest. I must be more tired than I thought,” Rose said, rubbing her eyes again.

“Get some sleep,” he said before closing the door. Rose instantly went over to it and locked it, making sure there was no way anyone could get in. For good measure, she put a chair under the doorknob, knowing that no one could get in now.

Rose quickly shut down her computer and quickly cleaned up the yoghurt that she dropped earlier. She was certain that someone was in her apartment but how could he just disappear? Except for the yoghurt she dropped there was no sign he was ever there. Rose never heard the door open or even close, which she’s certain she would have heard, since it creaks.

Still holding the statue in her hand, she went to room to room, checking everything. Under the bed, in the closets, even under the sinks, but there was no trace of him. It was like he just vanished.

As Rose climbed into bed, the statue now on her nightstand, she wondered just what in hell happened. Did she really imagine him? Or was there someone really there?

No, it had to be her imagination. It just had to be. Her mother said one day her over imagination would get her into trouble, and this must have been what she meant. Imagining some man in her apartment. But it was all in her head. Nothing happened. No one was really there. Rose had nothing to worry about.

She barely got any sleep that night.  


	3. Chapter 3

“Okay, so what is this all about?”

Jack Harkness put his cup of tea down in front of him, sitting across from Rose Tyler, who had bags under her eyes. She has lived in her apartment for three days, and has only seen the man once since their first encounter. It was yesterday morning as she was putting on her make-up. She saw him in the mirror as he angrily said, “I told you to leave!” but when she turned around to face him, he was gone.

Wondering just what in bloody hell was going on, Rose called on someone she knew that lived in town. Sarah Jane would have simply told her it was an overactive imagination, but Jack Harkness, an old friend, would have more of an open mind and perhaps could help her.

Rose sighed, leaning forward. “This is going to sound incredibly stupid,” she said before placing both of her hands on her cup of tea. “I’m seeing someone.”

Jack smiled. “Rose, that’s fantastic! Why would that sound stupid? I tried to get you with someone, but you bailed on me. Besides, it’s been years since—”

“No,” Rose interrupted, knowing how Jack interrupted that. “No, I mean I’m _seeing_ someone." She whispered, "Someone who isn’t there.”

“You mean he's emotional unavailable?" When Rose glared at him, he understood what she meant. "Oh! You’re having hallucinations.”

“Twice,” Rose said, leaning forward so not be overheard. “In my apartment. A man.”

“Attractive?” Jack asked with a saucy grin.

Rose made a face. “Not really there, Jack.”

“Right, right. So when you saw this man, were you drinking?”

“No.”

“Working?”

Rose bit her lip. “Well, you know as a writer that I spend a good portion of my time on the computer.”

“Rose…”

“Yes, I had been working. The first time I had been on my computer for…well, a long time. And the second time, I was thinking about the book. But Jack, I mean I know I have a huge imagination but I should not be seeing some tall freckled freak in my apartment!”

“He has freckles?”

“Jack, can we _please_ stay on topic?”

“Okay, okay. Rose, this just sounds like you have been inside your own mind for far too long. I know things have been hard since...” He paused before continuing. “But maybe this is your mind’s way of telling you to come out of your shell. When we first met, you were such a people person. Rose, it’s been three years. You just hide inside of yourself. Come back out into the real world. Stop living in your imagination. Take some time off from your book and come back out here.”

“You think that’s all this is? My imagination?”

“Absolutely. I’d say to stop writing for a couple of days, and just enjoy this town. It is lovely, and you should admire it.”

Rose nodded. And for the next couple of days, that’s what she did. She wrote a little bit—because she couldn’t _not_ write—but she also walked along the streets, admiring all the little shops they offered. She visited Sarah Jane, and though did not mention a word about her visions, did tell her what else she had been up to. She met some very friendly people, and even enjoyed a cup of coffee and a book on a bench not too far from her house.

Maybe Jack was right. Maybe it was all just in her head and she needed to come back out. She hadn’t seen that man in almost a week and that alone made her feel so much better. She couldn’t get over how much he insisted, however, that _she_ was in _his_ apartment, as opposed to the other way around. But it seemed like actually talking to other people and enjoying the good weather did her some good.

One night, after she talked to her mother and insisted that she was fine—again, _not_ mentioning seeing any man in her apartment at all—Rose laid down in her bed and tried to read her book, but found that her mind just wasn’t taking any of it in. She slipped her bookmark into it before laying it on the nightstand—the statue that she placed there on her first night now back where she originally had it—and closing her eyes.

“What are you still doing here?” she heard someone asked angrily.

Her eyes snapped open and saw the man, still in his pinstripe suit and his hair all spiked up. He had his arms crossed against his chest and his eyebrow knitted downwards.

Rose turned over onto her bed and placed a pillow over her head. “You’re not here, you’re not here. You’re my imagination, you’re not here,” she muttered over and over again.

“Am I going to have to call the police? I don’t want to, but since you keep coming in here, I might have to.”

Rose turned over, the pillow flumping down beside her. “It’s _you_ who keeps coming in here!”

He dropped his arms and looked troubled. “Oh boy. This is more serious than I thought. Okay, I’m going to ask you a series of questions and I want you to answer them, okay?”

“What? No.”

“Question number one,” he said, either not hearing her response or choosing to ignore it. “Has your recent alcohol intake increased?”

“No.”

“Do you work long hours and/or are in a stressful job?”

She thought about her book that needs to get to her editor in a matter of weeks. “Maybe.”

“Are you hearing voices or seeing things that aren’t quite real to you?”

Rose looked at him sharply. “As a matter of fact, yes!”

“Have you gone through a traumatic event recently?”

“That’s none of your damn business!”

“Have you recently sought consult from a mental health care professional?”

“Why are you asking me so many questions?”

“Are you always this paranoid? Thinking that people are out to get you?”

“Leave me alone!”

He sat down at the end of the bed. “I’ll take that as a yes. Listen, miss, I think what’s happening to you is simple, yet complex at the same time. You have fantasized, quite convincingly that you’ve rented this apartment, when it fact, it belongs to someone else. I can prove it too. Behind me on the wall, there’s a huge crack, yes?” Rose looked over his shoulder and saw that there was indeed a huge horizontal crack on the wall. “I did that. I just wanted to put up a picture and I managed to hit a beam, causing the plaster in the wall to crack from the pressure on how hard I hit the nail. If you look closer, you can see the exact spot I hit the nail, because there’s a perfect circle. Or the fact that all the furniture you laying on was bought from a store about a mile out of town named TARDIS. I still have the receipt.” He conked his head to the side. “Somewhere. My point is this: I think you need to come to terms with the fact that you may be mentally ill.”

Rose really wanted to scream at him and tell him that she is in fact perfectly sane, but she couldn’t deny that she felt like she was going crazy. Right now, the man looked real and the bed tilted downwards where he sat, showing that he had weight. Maybe she was making this all up.

But if that was the case, then why did the landlord give her the apartment so willingly? Was it what she thought earlier, a scam? If so, why was it only his furniture and her personal affects that lined the apartment? Shouldn’t there be other’s things as well?

Her mind was spinning, not sure if she should believe him or not. None of this was making any sense, but maybe being mentally ill explained why she continually saw this man.

Before she could say anything, he continued. “That's my furniture. That’s my wall. That’s my picture—Where is it?” He gestured over to the nightstand where Rose’s book and a lamp now rested. He stood up and walked over to it, picking up her things. “Where’s my picture?”

“This was empty when I got here,” Rose insisted. That much she knew. There was no picture on the nightstand.

“No, there was a picture of…” He paused and scrunched up his face, as though trying to remember. After a moment, he insisted, “There was a photo right there! I’m sure of it!”

“There was no picture,” Rose said.

“You know what, I’ve had enough! I’m calling the police!” He stalked out of the room, muttering under his breath. But what made Rose think that perhaps she was going absolutely insane was watching him disappear from sight. He simply faded as he walked out, leaving no trace of even being there.

Almost like he was a ghost.

 

~*~

 

The next morning, Rose called her realtor as she left the apartment and walked down the stairs. “Hi, Lydia, it’s Rose. Rose Tyler. Er, the family that sublet this apartment to me, um, do you have their number?”

“Is there a problem?”

 _Yeah, I think I see dead people._ “No, no. I was just wondering about the previous tenant, that’s all.”

“Well, the woman I spoke to was very closed-lip about it. She didn’t go into much detail. There was some kind of tragedy in the family. I didn’t ask for any more information. It was clear she did not want to speak about it.”

Rose heard nothing after the word ‘ _tragedy_.’ _Oh my God,_ she thought. _He really is dead._ “You think the man—I mean, the person who lived here before died?”

“I really have no idea. Is there a problem though?”

Rose shook her head, not knowing how to continue this conversation. “No, no. I’m—Thanks, Lydia.”

“I’ll let you know when the family changes their mind and instead of subletting, you could actually lease it!”

Rose knew that that was supposed to bring good news, but she felt nothing but dread. “Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

 

~*~

 

With the knowledge that perhaps this man haunting her apartment was really dead, she felt that she needed help. And it was with that thought alone that made her go anywhere near the store named Happy Hauntings. It was filled with books and crystal balls and all different kinds of incense. The place itself looked like it came out of one of the _Harry Potter_ books, which made it interesting, but at the same time made Rose feel like an idiot. The fact that she could possibly have a real ghost in her apartment was something that a few years ago—hell, a few weeks ago—Rose would have rolled her eyes at. But now? Now Rose thought that perhaps anything was possible.

She was looking at a book titled _Ghosts for Dummies_ when someone came up behind her. “Can I help you?”

Rose turned around and noticed the young woman who was a few inches shorter than her with brown hair framing her heart-shaped face. She wore not a gipsy outfit nor a wizard’s robe, but rather a red dress with a black leather jacket over it. She actually looked normal.

“Er, yeah, I have, uh, a ghost situation,” Rose answered, feeling like a fool.

“Oh, okay. Do you need help in communicating with the ghost?”

Rose thought about how much the man has said to her and gave a slight chuckle. “No, communication is _not_ his problem. No, I want to know how to get…rid of him.”

“Oh. Then you will definitely need this book,” the woman said taking one off the shelf. She then took three more and handed them to Rose. “These will help with any problem, definitely.”

“Thanks. I’ll just go…” Rose nodded to the cash register.

“Of course. Here, I’ll ring you up.”

After the woman told Rose her total, the woman said, “If you’re interested, I can help as well. I can kind of communicate with them. Ghosts, I mean.”

Rose took the bag and nodded. “Well, if I need your help, I’ll come back.” She really hoped she wouldn’t.

“My name is Clara Oswald. Just in case.”

“Clara Oswald. Got it.”

 

~*~

 

That night, Rose sat on the couch of the apartment, her books all opened to different pages, one in her left hand as she waved a candle in the other. She read out loud, “Spirit, awake. Spirit, partake. Spirit, without fear. Spirit, appear!” She looked around her apartment and not seeing the man, sighed in frustration. None of the books were any help really. None of them told her how she could get him to come to her, nor how she could get rid of him.

Rose closed the book, put the candle down on the table, and leaned back, putting her socked-cad feet up on table. Rubbing her eyes, she wondered how exactly she was going to get him to show up, since she felt like she really needed to talk to him.

“You shouldn’t have your feet that close to a candle. You could start a fire.”

Rose jumped up when she saw the man standing there, leaning against the fireplace, arms crossed.

“You! I need to talk to you!”

“Are you going to admit that you’ve gone crazy?” he snarkly asked.

Rose made a face, but continued with her thought. “I just realized that we were never introduced. I’m Rose Tyler. And you are…?”

“I’m…” he began answering, but knitted his eyebrows when he didn’t have a response.

“You don’t know, do you?” she asked.

“Of course I know!”

“Let me ask you a different question. Has it crossed your mind that maybe something is a little bit off in your day?”

He stood up straight, hands sliding into his trouser pockets. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, like where do you spend your day, huh? Where do you work?”

“I—I—I help people,” he said, clearly flustered. “I take care of them.”

“Like a doctor?”

“Yes!” he said, pointing at her like she just discovered Atlantis. “Yes, I’m a doctor!”

“Okay, doctor what?”

“Wha—What do you mean?”

“What’s your name?” she prompted again.

“I…I…I don’t…”

“You can’t remember, can you, _Doctor_?”

“Of course I can!” he insisted, though he clearly couldn’t. “My name is…”

Seeing that this was clearly frustrating to him, Rose asked a different question, hoping he would see the connection she was trying to make. “And where do you go all day, _Doctor_?”

“I go to—a hospital. I work at a hospital.” He didn’t sound so sure of that.

“Which one?”

“Does it matter?” He walked around her, obviously wanting to be done with this conversation.

“Yes, it does. Which one?”

He turned back towards her. “Why are you asking me all these questions?”

She took a step towards him, and he took a step back. “Because I am in fact not going crazy. I am, in fact, mentally sane. And the reason I know this is because I found out that you’re dead!”

His eyes opened in shock and he shook his head. “I am not dead!”

“Walk into the light, Doctor.” Rose said, taking another step towards him.

“There is no light!” he said as he took a step backwards.

“You’re dead, Doctor!”

“I am _not dead_!” he all but shouted.

Rose looked down at his waist and he followed her movement. He was standing in the middle of the table. Not _on_ it, _in_ it. There was no plausible explanation for why or even how he could have done this. He simply walked into the middle of the table, not even realizing it was there.

“How am I…?”

“Because you’re dead!” she shouted.

“Stop saying that!” he said, walking towards her. He reached out and grabbed her shoulders. Rose looked at his long fingers in amazement, because honestly he should have gone right through her.

“How…?”

“See, I’m not dead.” He sounded smug.

“Then how did you walk _through_ the table?”

He shrugged and placed his hand on top of it. It rested there. “I have no idea,” he mumbled.

Rose grabbed his other hand that was resting on her shoulder and held it in between hers. “You’re not giving off any heat,” she observed.

He snatched his hand away from her as though she burnt him. “I am not dead.”

“Look, I don’t know why you are the way you are, but I just want you out of my house!”

“You get out!” he said, and grabbed her hand. She pulled back and yelled for him to let go, but for a ghost, he was pretty strong. He pulled her towards the door, but obviously wasn’t watching where he was going. He walked right through the dining room wall where as Rose smacked face first into it.

“Ow! You bastard!” Rose shouted, rubbing her nose.

He walked through the doorway, no longer holding onto her arm. He did, however, look confused not to mention angry.

“What in the _hell_ is going on?!”

“Will you just _go_?!” Rose asked, rubbing her arm.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I am not going anywhere.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor was good on his word. From that moment on, he barely left Rose’s side. He was sitting in the chair across the room reading a book when she got up in the morning; he sat beside her as she ate her breakfast. He commented on everything he saw when they walked to the grocery store and then commented on everything she put into her cart—and this was the worst one, because she couldn’t reply back and he knew it; if she talked to him in public, people would have thought she was talking to the sky. He read the book she was writing over her shoulder and kept commenting on how horrible the plot was—which it was, even in Rose’s opinion, but she didn’t want _him_ commenting on that. And he was there when she tried relaxing at night.

It finally came to a head one night, almost a week after he discovered that he was at least a spirit, as she tried to watch the series finale of her favorite television show. The climax of the episode was really gripping, and Rose had her tissue box clutched in her arms as she watched her two favorite characters saying good-bye to each other. She almost let out a sob when suddenly she heard—

“ _Annnnd, I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more. Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles to fall down at your door! Da lat da—DA LAT DA. Da lat dat—DA LAT DA. Da-da-da dun-diddle, un-diddle, un-diddle, uh da-da!_ ”

He was sitting on the dining room table, his legs swinging as he belted out the song. Rose glared at him over her shoulder before picking up her remote and turning the volume up higher. The higher the telly, the louder he sang.

“ _And, I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more. Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles to fall down at your dooooooooooor!_ ” He rang out the last note, making Rose want to scream.

She turned off the telly and turned around, glaring at him. He still had his arms raised, just finishing the note when she yelled, “That’s _it_! I’m getting you outta here!”

  
*

 

However, that was easier said than done. The next day a priest was in the apartment, with his Holy Water and Bible, yelling “The power of Christ compels you!” over and over again.

The Doctor leaned against the back of the couch, clearly unimpressed. “He’s getting the floor all wet,” he said, watching as the priest showered the floor with more and more Holy Water.

Rose said told the priest to go a little more to the right, but still completely missed the Doctor, who just walked to the other side of the room, completely unaffected.

 

*

 

She even had Chinese exorcists in the house, who lit up papers with fire and dropped them to the floor. Rose worried about the marks they would make, but the Doctor stood there, watching them with fascination.

“This is interesting, Rose, thinking that this would help with unwanted spirits. Of course, all they’re really going to do is set off the smoke detectors.”

And not a moment later, the smoke detector went off and the women all blew out their candles and ran towards the door, thinking the spirit was getting angry at them.

 

*

 

The worst one had to be, however, the three men who came to the apartment with what only could be described as Proton Packs. Two had their nozzle pointed at the coffee table, one yelling with excitement, “Boss, we got it! It’s over here!”

The third man rushed over and very gently put the top a large pyramid structure and slid it to the end, quickly catching it with the bottom plate. The man—whose name was Vern—walked over to Rose with the dish clutched in his hands, but a happy expression on his face. “We got it, miss. We got your spirit.”

The Doctor stood next to her and admired the men’s packs. “Look Rose! They’re Ghostubusters! _Who you’re gonna call_?!” he sang out.

Rose looked at him from the corners of her eyes before looking back down at the dish. “Are you sure?” she asked, though obviously knew these men were just taking her over.

“Oh, absolutely! I’m gonna give him a flush.”

 

*

 

“So is that it? You just sit there?”

Clara Oswald sat in the middle of Rose’s couch, looking around the room. She had a very innocent nature about her, so Rose found it hard to believe that she could communicate with the dead.

“Do you want incense and chanting or do you want an actual reading?” Clara asked before looking straight ahead.

The Doctor sat down on the coffee table in front of her. Again, he was not impressed and seemed almost defeated as he said, “Look, she can’t see me either. For some insane reason, only you can.”

“Well,” Clara said as Rose gave the Doctor a dirty look, “there is definitely a spirit. And it’s with us right now.”

“Oh, tell us more, Cleo,” he said, sarcastically.

Clara looked up at Rose sharply. “It’s hostile. It wants you out.”

 _Now_ the Doctor was impressed. He sat up straight and looked at her. “Who is she? Can she really feel me?” 

“You should really move, Rose,” Clara said.

“I like her,” the Doctor responded with a nod.

“ _I_ should move?” Rose asked, defensive.

“I would.”

“Where did you find her?”

“I’m not moving.”

“Rose, can’t you feel all that…” Clara gestured with her arms, “All that hatred coming towards you?”

“This girl has a gift.”

“I am _not_ leaving!” Rose insisted. “Can’t you tell _him_ to go?”

“Why wouldn’t you move? It’s not like it’s that great of an apartment,” Clara observed, looking around.

“Yes, it is!” Both the Doctor and Rose said at the same time. They looked at each other before looking back at Clara.

Clara shrugged. “Well, it’s your life.”

“But move out? That can’t be the only option, yeah? There’s gotta be something you can do. Could you maybe talk to him and just tell him to move on?”

“I am not going anywhere!” the Doctor insisted.

“I’m ignoring you!” Rose said to the Doctor, who simply made a face in response. Turning back towards Clara, Rose said, “He won’t accept that he’s dead. I told him to walk towards the light.”

“For the last time, there is no light!”

“Oh, can you just be quiet?!” Rose shouted at him, losing all patience.

“Me?” he said, pointing at himself. “What about you?! Why do you keep doing all of this?”

“I’m trying to get rid of you!”

“I’m not dead!” He groaned in frustration and stood up walking towards Rose. “God, you’re so infuriating!” He stopped just short of her and said, “Do you think I like this? Do you think I’m getting a kick out of this? I know something is wrong! I know something is not right! I can walk through walls!”

Clara leaned forward, rubbing her forehead. “What is going on?”

“He won’t admit that he’s dead,” Rose yelled, so close to slapping him.

“Probably because he’s not,” Clara said with a shrug.

The Doctor looked triumphed as he shouted, “Ha!” but Rose looked confused. “What? What do you mean? He’s alive? Then why is he here?”

Clara stood up and walked towards Rose. “I don’t know, really. But I do know that he is the most alive spirit I have ever been around. It’s clear that your ghost is not dead.”

Rose looked behind her, at the Doctor who looked almost smug with his grin and his hands in his pockets. He bounced on the balls of his feet and Rose never wanted to smack him so hard.

“But you—” Clara said, gesturing towards Rose. “Oh boy. You have such a dark aura.”

Rose turned back to Clara, who was looking at with sad brown eyes. “Wha—What?”

“Your aura…it’s the darkest I have ever seen. It’s sucking the life right out of you.” Clara placed her hand on Rose’s shoulder. “You have to let him go.”

“How can I when _he won’t leave_?”

“No, not your spirit. I’m talking about the other one. The one in here,” she said, pointing at Rose’s heart. “That’s the one really haunting you, isn’t it?”

Rose froze as the Doctor came up between them. “I get it.” He looked down at Rose. “You were dumped, weren’t you?”

Rose snapped her head right at him. “Shut up.”

“That’s why you barely go out, isn’t it? Because some gomer dumped you.”

“I said shut up! You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!”

“What?” the Doctor said, almost grinning with this information. “You can dish it, but you can’t take it? You’ve had all kinds of hooplas in here, almost setting my place on fire! And for what?! But I talk about some guy dumping you and—”

“I said, _shut up_!” Rose screeched at him, tears welling up in her eyes. She bolted out of the room, running for the stairs to take her to the roof.

The Doctor didn’t know how to react, not used to seeing Rose like this. He stood in his spot, almost stunned as Clara grabbed her purse and headed towards the door. Before she reached it, however, she took a step back and said, “Listen, spirit. Have some respect for the living, okay?” With that, she walked out.

The Doctor watched as the door closed and looked at the stairs leading up towards the roof. Taking a deep breath, the Doctor went upstairs, ready to apologize.

He found Rose standing near the edge, looking out onto the town. He  tried not to notice Rose looking behind her and quickly wiping her eyes before facing forward again.

“It occurs to me that perhaps I don’t know you all that well,” he said, walking slowly towards her. Rose kept her back to him. He kept going. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I—I have a gob that won’t ever stop, and that wasn’t the first time I got in trouble because of it. I’m sorry I said those things. I don’t…I didn’t mean them. I just—I’m confused on why I’m like this and why…why I can only communicate with you and not anyone else. Even that Clara couldn’t see me. She could just feel my presence.” He realized he was babbling and cleared his throat. “Anyway, I’m sorry.” When she didn’t respond, the Doctor looked around. “I bought this place for the roof. I remember that I have a fascination with the stars and just really…I wanted to study them. I think I may even have a telescope somewhere. Sorry, I’m babbling.” He took a step forward. “You know, talking can sometimes help.”

“I don’t want to talk about it!” she shouted, turning around.

He nodded. “Shouting helps too.” After a pause, he couldn’t help but ask, “Who was she talking about?”

“John,” Rose said simply.

“Who’s John?”

“He was my fiancé,” she said, turning quickly away from him and going back downstairs. This time, the Doctor didn’t follow her.

 

~*~

 

The next day, the Doctor barely said a word to Rose, though he was never too far away from her. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was afraid of what she would do to herself or if there were other reasons. Like guilt. However, he did sympathize for her. He wanted to be able to comfort her, if he had to. He felt bad about how callous he was when the subject first came up. Maybe that’s why he suddenly became protective of her.

When she put on her jacket and purse that night and simply left without a word, the Doctor decided to follow her, but at a distance. He realized a few days after walking through the table that if he wasn’t conscious about walking into things, he could walk through anything and not even realize it. It’s only when he realized that there was a wall or something in his way that he would suddenly “solidify,” for lack of a better term.

The Doctor watched as Rose walked into the local pub, but the door closed on him before he could see what she was up to. Luckily, someone was coming out, so he could sneak in without anyone realizing that the door was opening by itself. He watched Rose order a gin and toxic and ran right up to her.

“Rose, don’t do this. This isn’t going to help.”

Rose jumped when he spoke, but otherwise looked straight ahead. “Yes, it will.”

“Rose…” he started before someone else shouted, “Rose!”

They both turned to see Jack Harkness walking towards them. “I recognize him,” he muttered, though for the life of him he couldn’t remember where.

Rose, however, didn’t hear the Doctor and yelled out, “Jack!”

“Rosie! Oh, I’m so glad you came out!” Jack grabbed her in a hug and the Doctor took a sharp intake of breath, though he had no idea why.

Ignoring the other man, the Doctor turned towards Rose. “You can’t drink these feelings away.”

Rose, forgetting that she was the only one who could see the man standing beside her, said, “Watch me.”

Jack looked at Rose before looking at the empty space next to her. He looked concerned, though he kept the smile on his face. “So, Rose, are you okay? I mean because of the…” He stopped talking, not wanting anyone else to hear their conversation.

“Oh, yeah. Fine,” she said with a wave of her hand. She grabbed the drink as soon as the bartender put it down and took a gulp.

“Rose, stop this. Let’s go get you something to eat. We can talk about this.”

“You’re not my father,” she said sharply.

Jack raised an eyebrow. “Rose…?”

Rose waved her hand again. “Fine, Jack. Fine.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, placing his hand on Rose’s arm.

“Yeah, totally. Completely under control.”

“ _Please_ ,” the Doctor said, rolling his eyes. “We have nothing under control.”

“Can you shut up for five minutes?” Rose asked him before gulping down the rest of her drink.

“Rose…” Jack said again, noticing that people were looking their way.

“Rose, let’s go,” the Doctor said taking her hand. She felt so warm against his, maybe because he wasn’t giving off any heat, but it made his stomach do a flip. “Come on. You don’t have to drink your problems away.”

She shook his hand. “I’m fine.”

“Have you been working as much?” Jack asked, concerned.

“No, no, not as much.”

“What are you talking about, you’re constantly working. You always sit in front of your computer. Well, when you’re not trying to get my house burnt down!”

“Will you let that go!?”

“Rose, talk to me,” Jack said.

“Rose, come on,” the Doctor said, grabbing her hand again.

Raising her hands, Rose shouted, “The both of you, stop telling me what to do!”

Some people glanced their way, but Jack grew even more worried. “Both of…Oh, Rose no.”

Seeing the pity in his eyes, she shook her head, tears gathering. “I…I got to go, Jack.”

Throwing some money onto the bar, Rose walked out, knowing the Doctor was right behind her.

“You made the right choice,” he said.

“I looked like an idiot in there!”

“You’ll thank me one day!”

“Don’t hold your breath,” she muttered as she stormed off.

Rose walked towards the local park, hoping that maybe some fresh air would help clear her mind. When she sat down on an empty bench, she jumped when she noticed the Doctor sitting on the other end, looking at his shoes.

“Why are you still here?”

He shook his head sadly. “I have no idea. Why are you the only one who can see me?”

She shrugged. “No clue.”

“All I know for certain is that when I’m not with you, it’s like…it’s like I don’t exist. What if I am dead?”

Rose shook her head. She didn’t want to feel pity for the man beside her, but she couldn’t help it. “You’re not dead. Remember? Clara said you were the most alive spirit she had ever been around. Maybe you’re alive.”

“All I remember is that I was a doctor. But I’m not even sure of that! I don’t even know where I worked or who my family was or…anything.” He took a deep breath. “I’m trying to figure it all out, but I…I need help.” He looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

“Oh, no,” she said, knowing what he was silently asking. “No way.  I am not helping you. Emotional baggage, right here. Can’t help you.”

“But maybe you can,” he said, turning his body towards her. Rose gave a humorless laugh as he continued. “Maybe that’s why I came to you. I need to help you and you need to help me. Please?”

“No way.”

He paused before saying, “Look, you have two realities to choose from. Either you have met a man in a really unconventional way who needs your help.  
 He let that sink in before saying, _"Or_ you’re just a crazy person sitting on a bench at night talking to yourself.”

Well, looking at it from that perspective... “I think I like you’re first option better.”

He jumped up as he said, “Good. Let’s find out who I am.”


	5. Chapter 5

The process of finding out exactly who the Doctor was, however, was proving to be more difficult than either of them thought. They went to the neighboring houses, each one of them responding with some variation of “No, no one lived in that apartment” or “I think it was empty” or “Someone _lived_ there? Seriously?”

“It’s like I was a ghost before I was dead,” the Doctor commented as they went to talk to one of the other tenants in the building where Rose currently lived.

A few seconds after Rose rang the bell, a young man in his mid-twenties opened the door. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and an oval face. He was also wearing a _Star Trek_ t-shirt and jeans.

“Hi,” he said, but grinned when he noticed Rose. “Can I help you?”

“Oh, this looks promising,” the Doctor said, standing close behind Rose. “I’m pretty sure I watched _Star Trek_. I bet we were friends.”

“ Hi, I’m Rose. I’m the new tenant here.”

“Hi Rose, I’m Adam,” he said, shaking her hand.

“He’s friendly,” the Doctor said, sounding hopeful.

“I need to ask a question.”

Adam leaned against the doorframe, grinning. “Sure. What can I help you with?”

“The apartment upstairs, it belonged to a young man. Did you know him perhaps?”

Adam’s eyes looked at the doorway at the top of the stairs. “Yeah, I think there was someone up there.” He looked back down at Rose. “But they were completely anti-social, you know.”

“Okay, maybe we weren’t _close_ friends.”

“Like an old man who never wanted anyone around him, you know?” Adam said, giving a chuckle. Rose chuckled too, just to be polite.

All of the Doctor’s hope vanished. “Okay. We’re done here.” He turned to go up the stairs, but turned back as Adam spoke.

“You know, I was just about to start this new television series, _Time Lords_? Have you heard of it?”

“Oh, that’s my favorite show!” Rose said

Adam smiled. “Really? Would you like to come in and watch it with me? I swear I won’t get creepy of anything.”

The Doctor had enough of this guy. “Rose, let’s go. He’s not getting us anywhere.”

Rose looked at him before turning back to Adam. “Oh, I can’t right now. Maybe another time.”

“Yeah? I’ll hold you to that,” he said, giving a smirk.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “He looks like that won’t be the only thing he’ll hold you to.”

Rose tried not to roll her eyes as she said, “I have to go now. But it was nice to meet you, Adam.” She held out her hand.

“Oh, you too, Rose. Hope I see you around.”

“Seriously, Rose, this guy is making me sick.”

“Yeah,” Rose said, rubbing the back of her neck. “Definitely.”

Rose turned to walk up the stairs, but the Doctor noticed Adam checking her out. “I think I just threw up in my mouth.”

When Rose got to the top and noticed that Adam had shut his door, she turned to the Doctor. “That’s it! You’re not coming with me anymore.”

“Why not? Something might jog my memory.”

“You’re like a radio someone shoved into my head and I can’t turn off!”

“But, Rose, he was hitting on you!”

“So?” Rose said, patting her pockets, looking for her keys. “Men hit on me. It’s not a big deal. Damn it!”

“What?”

Rose looked at the door with frustration. “I locked myself out.”

“Oh, there’s an extra key under the fire extinguisher,” he said, off-handedly. He got back to his point as Rose looked under it, and sure enough, there was another one. “I mean, flirting is one thing, but he was almost leering at you. It was sick. How are you not offended by that?”

“I would probably be offended if I cared. But I don’t,” Rose said, opening the door.  She walked to the kitchen and got herself a can of diet soda from the refrigerator. “However, we have a bigger problem than Captain Leery over there—” The Doctor smirked at her nickname for Adam, but otherwise said nothing—“We have met at least seven of your neighbors, two of which live in the building, and not one of them know you, nor what you look like. Talk about being disconnected.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “That is posing to be a problem, huh?”

“All you remember is that you were a doctor, but you’re not even sure of that! Maybe you just wanted to be a doctor, so that’s what you’re holding on to. That hope.”

He sat down at the kitchen table and leaned his head against his hands. “I guess. At this point everything is speculation.” 

As she took a sip of her soda, she thought of something. “Maybe there’s something in the drawers than can help us.” She quickly opened one, but seeing that it was only utensils, shut it.

“What do you mean?” he said, standing up and going over to her.

“I don’t know. A dry-cleaning receipt. A matchbook. A grocery list. _Something_ that could prove that you lived here and/or give us a clue on where to look.” She went through two other drawers before she finally found a piece of paper with three numbers on it, not including a street number.

“Hello. What’s this?” Rose held it out so they both could see it.

“A street address?”

“Looks like it. 75—is that a 4 or a 9?”

The Doctor took the paper and squinted at it. Then his eyes opened wide as he put his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket and he pulled out a pair of spectacles. As he put them on, Rose commented, “I didn’t know you wore glasses.”

They were rectangle framed and Rose hated the fact that she thought he looked attractive in them. “I forgot too until this very moment.” Looking at the paper again he said, “Four. No, wait, nine. No, four.”

Rose raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?” 

He handed the paper back to her as he took off his glasses. “Yes, four. Definitely four.”

“Okay, so 754 29th Street.” She looked up at him. “Does that mean anything to you?”

“No. But maybe it will when we get there.”

 

~*~

 

754 29th Street looked just like any regular house in the neighborhood. Rose looked over at the Doctor, trying to gauge his reaction. “Well?” she asked when he said nothing.

He shrugged. “Nothing. I don’t remember anything.”

“Okay, let’s ring their bell. Maybe that’ll help.”

After getting out of the car and walking up the steps, Rose rang the bell and waited for someone to open it. She didn’t realize that both she and the Doctor were standing the exact same way, hands in the pockets, almost facing each other.

When the door opened, Rose took in the beautiful woman who had extremely curly dirty-blonde hair and bright green eyes. “Hello,” Rose said, smiling.

“Hi!” the woman responded, putting on a pair of earrings. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, um do you know a man about—” Her hair reached up to about the Doctor’s height. “Six foot—”

“Yeah, about six foot, six foot one,” the Doctor said, trying to help. 

“Six one. Brown hair. Talks really fast.”

The woman grew pale and she lowered her hands as she whispered, “How do you know?”

Surprised by this response, Rose asked, “Excuse me?”

“Did my husband hire you?”

“What? Oh, no. No! I’m just—”

“River, honey? Who’s at the door?” a man called from inside.

The woman—River—quickly started to shut the door. “Whatever he’s paying you, I’ll double it. Come back tonight.”

“No, wait—” Rose started to say before River cut her off.

“Tonight,” she repeated before closing the door in their faces.

Rose looked at the Doctor, trying not to judge but failing miserably. She raised her eyebrows as she walked right past him.

“I don’t know that woman,” he insisted, as they walked back to the car. “Never seen her before in my life.”

“Sure, sure. Who knew you were such a _player_?” she teased, giving him a grin that showed a bit of her tongue.

He stopped walking for a moment, as though transfixed. He shook his head and continued, “No, I’ve never see her before. I may not know who I am right now, but I most certainly am _not_ a cheater.”

“I believe you,” Rose honestly replied, going to the driver’s side of the car. She was a bit taken back when he came around and opened the door for her. “Oh, thank you.” She hoped in and started the engine as he climbed in on the other side.

“Okay, where to next?” she said as she put the car into drive.

As Rose drove off, neither of them looked behind them. Because if they did, they would have seen a woman come out of the house marked 759, going to retrieve her mail. A woman the Doctor knew as Martha Jones.

 

~*~

 

Rose drove down a street, singing lightly to the music on the radio. They were driving around town, hoping something would jog the Doctor’s memory. They had been going for about a half hour when suddenly he yelled, “Stop!”

Luckily there was no one behind her, because Rose hit the brakes hard. “What? Where is it? What are we looking at? I didn’t hit a cat, did I?”

“Rose, look!” he said, pointing out his window at a large building that was across a field from where they currently were. The building was about three stories high, huge in diameter, and had a sign that said HOSPITAL.

“Rose, that’s Torchwood Hospital. I work there!”

Rose drove over, heading as quickly as she could. When they finally parked the car in the car park, the Doctor spirited off, Rose trying to stay as close to him as she could. They walked into the lobby, and the Doctor turned around, as though admiring the place with new eyes.

“Rose, I remember! I remember these halls!” He pointed to the nurse behind the desk. “That’s Ace—she’s the best nurse I’ve ever met! Oh, and that’s Grace, she was a new surgeon just before my—Oh, and that’s Adric, over there! He’s the hematologist here.” He couldn’t point out the people fast enough and Rose’s head spun just listening to him list all the people.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked down at her with wide brown eyes. “Rose, my name is James. I’ve just remembered! My name is James!”

She smiled, finally knowing what to call him besides ‘Doctor’—though she was getting used to that. She nodded towards front desk. “Let’s ask them what happened to you, yeah?”

He nodded enthusiastically, following Rose. When the nurse—Ace—noticed her, she asked, “How can I help you?”

“Hi, I’m looking on information about one of your doctors here, James—”

“Noble?” Ace asked.

“Yes!” the Doctor shouted, happy that he now knew his name, he didn’t realize Ace grew pale.

“Yes, that’s it,” Rose said. “James Noble.”

Ace bit her lip. “Dr. Noble is not, um, active on our staff right now. Wait, let me get you someone to talk to.”

When she stood up to go talk to someone, the Doctor grew worried. “Uh-oh.”

“What?” Rose asked from the corner of her mouth, looking at him before looking at the nurse. “What ‘uh-oh’?”

“She’s getting someone to talk to you. That can only mean one thing: it’s bad news.”

When Ace came back, she said, “I need you to go to the third floor nurses’ station.”

The Doctor and Rose quickly got on the elevator and pushed for the third floor. When they exited, James instantly recognized the woman standing at the counter.

“This is even worse than I thought,” he said as they walked closer to her. “That’s Dr. Harriet Jones, the Chief of Medicine here. If we’re talking to her, something really horrible had to have happened.”

“Hello, I’m Dr. Harriet Jones. I heard you have some questions, Miss—”

“Tyler. Rose Tyler. And yeah, I do. About Dr. James Noble.”

“Well, before we can go any further, I need to know your relationship with Dr. Noble.”

“Tell her you’re my girlfriend,” the Doctor said to Rose, off-handedly. “She won’t tell you anything unless she knows that we’re intimate.”

Rose blushed at the idea, but cleared her throat as she said, “He’s, uh—we’re dating. He’s my boyfriend.”

“Really?” Dr. Jones replied, not suspicious, but rather surprised. “That’s shocking.”

“What? Why?” the Doctor asked, a bit hurt.

Since Dr. Jones couldn’t hear him, Rose asked, “What? Why?”

“Well, because his work meant everything to him. Rarely did he leave this hospital—”

“‘Meant’? Did she say ‘did’?” he asked, not liking the fact that she was using past tense.

“—I don’t know a single date he may have been on,” Dr. Jones finished.

“Well,” Rose said, trying to think on her feet. “We’re fairly recent. I live in his apartment.”

“ _Rose_ ,” the Doctor whispered, knowing how that would sound to others. 

“Building,” Rose added quickly.

“So, you don’t know about the accident?”

Rose’s hazel eyes opened wide. “Accident? No.” Rose, of course, knew that something had to have happened to him, but all the same, dread filled her. “No, I’ve—I’ve been away. I just got back.”

As Dr. Jones explained to Rose what happened to the Doctor, James himself heard a noise he didn’t hear earlier. It was coming from somewhere down the hall, and if he didn’t know any better, he would have sworn it was a heartbeat. His heartbeat. He turned around, barely hearing Dr. Jones as he walked down the hallway, following the sound of the noise. When he approached a door with the number 310 on it, he opened it up and walked inside.

And there, lying on the bed unconscious with all different kinds of machines hooked up, was himself.


	6. Chapter 6

The Doctor couldn’t seem to stop staring, his eyes transfixed on the site before him. There was a breathing tube that was covering up half of his face, IVs hooked up along his arm. His hair was lying flat against his forehead and he barely had any color. He must have been here for months.

“Oh my God,” he whispered, taking it all in.

The door slowly opened and Rose popped her head in. “Doc—James?” She came fully in and gave a small smile when she saw him standing there. “What was that? It looked like you were floating down.” Rose looked over at the bed. “Oh my God,” she whispered, sounding both excited and sympathetic at the same time. “It’s you. It’s really you.” She slowly walked over to his body, the Doctor walking toward the other side. “You’re—you’re alive! You’re not dead!”

“I know, but I’m in a coma,” he answered. “This is not good.”

“I think being alive is way better than being dead. Look, you don’t have any scars or injuries. You’re body is healing. You look…you look beautiful.”

If he had any blood supply, he would be certain that he’d be blushing. Thankful that he couldn’t, the Doctor said sadly, “Rose, it doesn’t matter how I look. Three months, that’s a persistent coma.”

Rose looked down, before turning to him. “We’re here now, yeah? Let’s do something.”

“Like what?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never done this before.”

“Well, neither have I!”

“Doctor, listen there must be—I don’t know. You must be able to—” she brought her two hands together. “You know, connect with yourself.”

“Yeah, I guess. I could try this.” The Doctor laid down on the bed, right on top of himself.

Rose heard one of the many machines beep loudly and watched as his chest took a deep breath in. “It’s working!”

The spirit of the Doctor sat up, while his body still laid there. “Yeah?” When he noticed that he still wasn’t connected, the Doctor tried lying down again. This time nothing happened. He tried waving his arms but nothing moved. He tried moving his toes, but they stayed still. Nothing worked.

Discouraged, he got back up and off the bed. “That’s impossible! It’s like I’ve been disconnected from my own body!”

“Okay,” Rose said, an idea popping into her head. “I want to try something, but you need to turn around.”

“Why?”

Rose’s cheeks redden as she said, “I just want to do something. Please turn around.”

Wondering what she could possibly have planned, the Doctor turned his back to her. Suddenly he felt someone brushing his hair away from his forehead. He reached up, but nothing was there. Yet someone was brushing their fingertips across his forehead. He turned around and saw Rose lightly pushing back some of his hair.

“See?” she said, grinning. “You are connected to your body.”

He couldn’t understand why the heart monitor wasn’t going crazy, because his heart was suddenly pounding in his chest. He tried to look away, but for the first time he just couldn’t stop staring at Rose’s honey-brown eyes.

After a moment, he shook his head, saying, “The monitors don’t agree.”

“Machine don’t know everything.”

“To me, they do.”

“Then how are we having this conversation?”

That _was a very good question_. “I have no idea.”

The door opened and Dr. Jones stuck her head in. “Miss Tyler? I’m sorry, but I have another appointment and I can’t leave you in here by yourself.”

“I just—I just need another moment to say good-bye,” Rose said.

“Of course.” She closed the door.

Rose looked over and noticed the Doctor picking up a child’s drawing of a man with brown spiky hair wearing a white coat.

“That’s an incredible likeness,” Rose said, walking up next to him.

He opened it and in a child’s handwriting it said, ‘ _Come back, Uncle James. We miss you. Love, Delilah and Emma_ ’

James smiled. “My nieces.” He put it down and picked up a photo of himself and a red-haired lady standing in the streets of Rome. “My sister,” he said lightly running his fingers over her laughing face. “Donna. How could I forget Donna?”

“What’s she like?”

“Oh, a force to be reckoned with, believe me. Fire, that’s what my grandfather used to say. She has a fiery personality.” He smiled as he looked at the photo. “This was the photo I had on my nightstand. I love this photo.”

“Sure looks like you’re having a good time,” Rose said, taking the photo to look at it closer. Donna was wearing a light purple dress and he was wearing an oxford with a tie that was loosen and brown pinstriped pants--much like the pair he had on. He had sunglasses on and his hair looked even more spiked up. She couldn’t help but admire just how handsome he really was.

“Oh, God, no, that was a horrendous trip. Lost our luggage, Donna got food poisoning, someone stole my rental. It was horrible. But with Donna…even when we were going through Hell, we just always managed to have the best of times. She’s my best friend, really. This photo always reminds me to remember the best, even if everything else is falling down around you.” He looked behind him at the machines, going over to them as he pulled out his glasses and put them on. “Talk about everything falling down around you. These are not good. The levels aren’t increasing.”

Without him noticing, Rose shoved the picture under her jacket and turned to face him. She looked at the door before looking back. “I’m going to have to leave soon.”

He turned to her, his eyes wide before saying, “Oh, right.”

“Do you want me to wait for you?”

Shaking his head, he looked down at his body. “No. No, I think I’m gonna stay. But,” he took off his glasses and rubbed the back of his neck. “Thank you for helping me. Really.”

“It was my pleasure,” Rose said, not wanting to say good-bye. “Are you sure you want to stay? You could come back. After all, it _is_ your apartment.”

He shook his head. “After being here…how can I leave?”

“No, I understand. It’s just…it feels weird, leaving you here.”

“I don’t know where else I belong.”

Before Rose could comment, Dr. Jones came into the room again. “Miss Tyler. I’m sorry.”

Rose nodded before turning to look at the Doctor. Luckily he was standing right next to his body, so even though it looked like Rose was talking to the man on the bed, she was really talking to the man beside it.

“Good-bye, Doctor.”

He watched her as she left the room. “Good-bye, Rose.”

Looking down at himself, James wondered if he made the right decision. There really was no reason to go back to the apartment; Rose was the one living there now. James would just be in the way if he went back. Besides she had her own life to get back to; she didn’t need some spirit hanging around her all the time. She was extremely helpful with this whole situation; honestly, he doesn’t know what he would have done without her. Though why _her_ specifically was a question he just could not answer. Though he now remembered a good chunk of his memories, he couldn’t remember ever meeting Rose. And he was certain that if he ever met her before, he wouldn’t ever forget her.

James stepped into the hallway, looking around and loving the memories that rushed back into his head. He wanted so much to tell Rose all that he could remember, but then he remembered that she left.

Walking towards the nurses’ station, James saw Dr. Jones filling out a form talking to a male nurse whose name was Rory.

“Such a shame,” Dr. Jones said, her eyes looking up at Rose who was waiting for the elevator. “He finally gets a life and then…”

“She’s pretty too,” Rory commented. James felt something in the pit of his stomach, but he refused to acknowledge it. Instead he listened as Rory said, “At least he got some time to be with her before…”

“Yeah,” Dr. Jones said, turning a page in her file and filling out another sheet. “It would have been awful if he’d gone through his whole life not knowing what it was all about.”

James took a couple of steps back, knowing that though they couldn’t see him, this was not something he wanted to overhear. He felt awful for leaving Rose, but she didn’t need him. Nor should she. What could he possibly offer her?  

Instead, he went into another room—the on-call room. Martha Jones was sitting at the table, her head down, book open. She must have fallen asleep studying, something she did often when he was around. If he ever found her like that, he would put a blanket around her shoulders, knowing how chilly she would get. When he noticed one in the corner, he pulled it over and gently rested it on her shoulders. He was glad that amongst all of this confusion and mayhem, some things never changed.

Continuing on his walk through the hospital, James stumbled upon an office that was not there when he was working. Next to the door read a plaque: _Harold Saxon, PhD_. _Chief Resident_

“Huh,” James said, coming into the room and noticing Dr. Saxon sitting behind the desk on his mobile. “Looks like they gave you the promotion.”

“Yep,” Saxon said, replying to whatever the person on the phone asked him. “I felt it was time.”

“Is it everything you thought it would be?”

Again, since Saxon could not see or hear James, his response was for the person on the telephone. “It is. And it’s time to upgrade from the 330 to the 740. I’m going to get it tonight.” His desk phone rang. “Oh, wait hold on.” He reached over and answered the other phone. “Dr. Saxon…Oh…You want me to do it?...No, of course I can.” He hung up and picked up his mobile. “Oh, mate, did you know I could get an iPod jack put in?”

The Doctor'a fists clenched. “Don’t you know that people are downstairs _dying_?!”

“I know! I thought that was incredible!”

Having absolutely enough of that, James turned and left, trying not the think about walking through the walls. He was furious that Dr. Jones gave the job to Saxon, but it made sense. Saxon was the second best, and with James out of the way…it only made sense.

That didn’t have to mean that he was happy about it.

He stormed the halls, angry about Saxon, frustrated over Rose, beyond confused about how he even got into this situation at all when he heard it:

“Delilah! Emma! Come back here right now!”

The lovely voice of his sister, Donna.

Smiling, James ran towards his room, watching his twin nieces ran past him. “Emma!” he shouted with joy. “Delilah! You guys got so big!” At four—very nearly five—his nieces were all action, keeping their parents on her toes. Both had light strawberry-blonde hair, and Emma had it in a ponytail while Delilah wore braids. They were faternial; Delilah has her father’s darker coloring and his brown eyes while Emma has light skin and Donna’s bluish-green eyes. Both—unfortunately—had their uncle’s nose and chin.

He followed them into the room, where they instantly went up to James on the bed. They each held his hands while telling him how much they missed him and when was he going to wake up from his nap. James looked down at his hands, though, confused. “Why did I feel Rose but I can’t feel you guys?”

Donna came in with a bouquet of—ironically—roses. “I said no screaming and no running. And what did you girls do?”

“We screamed and ran,” Emma said, the more mature of the two.  

“Yes. No dessert tonight.”

“But Mummy…” they both whined.

“No dessert.”

James smiled. “Still the same old Donna.” He walked up to her. “Donna? Donna, can you see me? Do you feel me here?” But when Donna walked right past him to place the vase of flowers on the windowsill, James’s shoulders drop. “No. I guess not.”

Donna and James stood at the foot of the bed, watching the two girls whisper to James. “That’s so sweet that you guys come to visit me. I wish you could know that I was here with you.” He looked over and saw Donna wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. He went to pat her on the shoulder—focusing all of his attention so he didn’t go through her—but his hand went right through anyway, as though he was just smoke.

“ _What_?” he said, looking down at his hands. He tried again, but all it did was make Donna shiver. “What…why can I touch Rose, but not you? You’re my _sister_! My best friend!”

“Excuse me,” Dr. Saxons said, coming into the room. “Mrs. McAvoy? I’m Dr. Saxon. Could I have a word?”

Saxon took Donna to the corner of the room, James following.

“First of all,” Saxon said, trying to sound sympathetic, but missing. “I hope you know how much we all love and miss James.”

“Give me a break,” James muttered, crossing his arms.

“Because he was a senior resident here," Saxon continued, "we’ve taken some extraordinary measures to make him feel more comfortable these last three months.”

“Emma! Don’t touch that!” Donna said, noticing her daughter press one of the buttons on the machines. Turning back to Saxon, Donna muttered, “Sorry.”

“This is difficult to say, Mrs. McAvoy. When we come to work here, we are asked to sign release forms.”

“Release forms?” Donna asked.

“I don’t like where this conversation is going,” James admitted, his stomach turning in knots.

“Did you know your brother’s opinion about artificially prolonging life?”

“No.”

“He was against it.”

“I’m all for it now!” James yelled, but of course neither of them noticed.

“Honestly, most in our profession feel that way,” Saxon admitted.

“Not me! I am perfectly happy!” Turning towards his sister, James pleaded, “Donna, come on! Hear me! You’re my sister!”

“But there is some brain activity, correct? I mean, people have woken up from a coma like this before.”

“All the time,” James said with a quick nod.

“Not on any record I’ve seen.”

“Maybe if you weren’t focused on _Sports Illustrated_ you would notice!” James snapped. He suddenly got a head rush and his stomach felt sick. “Oh, I feel nauseous.”

“Delilah! Emma! What are you doing!?” They were pressing buttons on James’ bed and had it almost folded up. Grabbing each of them by their hands, Donna pulled them away from the bed. “Telly is going to become a thing of the past for you two,” she said as they walked out of the door.

In the hallway, Saxon and James followed them. “Mrs. McAvoy, James did sign that release form. However, because of the special situation, we won’t take any terminal action without your explicit approval. Now, I’ve prepared this paperwork—” he said, holding up a file in his hand.

“Donna, don’t sign that!”

“—if you decide to sign—”

“I’m _here_!”

“I’ll think about it,” Donna said, grabbing the file.

“Donna, don’t! I swear, I’ll baby-sit more often! I’ll—I’ll meet anyone you want me to meet—I’ll do anything you want, but please don’t sign that!”

“We sometimes find that it’s easier just to ask God’s forgiveness and not prolong the inevitable.”

Donna stopped walking and turned towards Saxon. “Dr. What-was-it?” Not bothering to stop to hear his name, she continued on, her voice threatening. “You are asking me to sign a piece of paper that will end my brother’s life. This is not something that I will just sign off on willy-nilly! We are talking about _my brother’s life_! _I said_ I’ll think about it!”

Taking her two girls by the hands, Donna stormed off to the elevators. James watched her going, feeling a bit better.

“Thank you, Donna.”


	7. Chapter 7

Rose walked into the dark apartment and slowly closed the door. She looked around and turned on a light as she called out, “James? Are you here?” The slightest bit of hope that perhaps he came back disappeared when silence answered her call. “No,” she whispered, her shoulders sinking, “I guess not.”

Moving around the apartment, Rose placed the picture of James on the table before going into the kitchen to grab something to eat. However, she didn’t have much of an appetite, so she decided to watch some telly instead. As she settled in on the couch, she found it ironic that she had _I Wanna Be_   _(500 Hundred Miles)_ stuck in her head, and grinned at the thought. She was about to tell him that’s his fault she has that stupid song stuck in her head, but her words died on her lips. She turned back to the television, refusing to be upset. He wanted to stay at the hospital. He had every right to do so. She didn’t even know _why_ she was upset. She finally had the apartment to herself.

Just as Rose grabbed a blanket to pull over herself, someone knocked on the door. Her heart sped up, thinking it was James. But why would he need to knock? He could just right through the door if he tried hard enough.

Rose walked to the door and looked through the peep-hole. As she opened the door, she said, “Hi Adam.”

“I’m locked out,” he said, holding up his empty hands. “Do you have a number for a locksmith?”

“Ah, yeah. Sure. Come on in. Let me just look one up for you.”

Rose searched on her laptop for a local locksmith while Adam looked at all the decorations Rose had on her walls. He picked up the picture of James, and Rose froze, thinking he would comment on how the guy looked familiar. But he said nothing as he put it back down and continued looking on.

When Rose found one, he called the number and quickly told him his problem. Now they were just waiting. Not that Adam wasn’t making himself at home. He asked if she had anything to eat, because he skipped lunch and was starving. When Rose handed him an apple, he took it with a smile before getting himself a can of soda from the refrigerator. She didn’t comment, but Rose watched as he opened the can before walking over to the couch and putting his feet up on the table.

“I’ve lived in London my whole life, so the idea of living in a small town never really occurred to me. But I have to say that I really like it. Don’t you?”

Rose was barely paying attention to him, wanting so much for him to leave so she could be alone with her thoughts. She didn’t know quite how to feel about James staying at the hospital, and Adam there talking a mile a minute was not helping to calm her nerves.

“Oh, yeah. Totally,” she answered, having no clue what she just agreed to. But when he smiled and continued talking, she realized that he wasn’t paying much attention to her either.

It was two hours later and Adam was describing—in detail—the last episode of _The Weeping Angels_ , a show Rose absolutely hated, when she asked, “So, when is the locksmith suppose to come? You did tell him to ring this bell, didn’t you?”

Adam—who was laid across the couch, making Rose sit in the arm chair off to the side—sat up. “Uh, yeah,” he responded, not sounding confident. “Yeah.” He stood up. “Where’s your bathroom?”

“Right down the hall,” Rose answered with a point.

Adam moved in that direction, while Rose rubbed her eyes. He was being an absolute nightmare and all she really wanted was—

“Doctor!” There he was, standing right behind her couch, looking worried. But Rose was so happy to see him, she ran over to him and threw her arms around him, happy that he was back. When she pulled back, she asked, “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to stay there.”

“I was,” he answered, before sighing. “But, Rose, they’re making my sister sign papers giving them permission to take me off of life support.”

Rose’s mind went blank as her stomach filled with dread. “What? No! They can’t!”

“Of course they can.”                                                                

“Is she going to sign it?”

He sighed again before pulling on his ear. “I don’t know. I’m not sure. She might, because I signed a release form when I started working there stating that I don’t want to be kept on life support.”

“How could you sign that?”

“Because I never thought this—” he gestured to the two of them “—could ever happen. I tried to get Donna to listen to me, but, of course, she can’t.”

“Doctor, I—”

“Rose?” Adam called out from the bathroom. “Where’s your—Oh, wait, nevermind!”

“Wow,” the Doctor said, eyebrows raised. “That didn’t take long.”

“What? No! No, he’s locked out of his apartment,” Rose said, with a wave of her hand.

He shook his head. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. I get it.”

“There’s nothing to get because there’s nothing going on. He’s just using the bathroom.”

It was at that precise moment that Adam stepped back into the hallway, shirtless. Rose’s jaw dropped a tiny bit and James looked stunned. “Huh,” he said. “How exactly does he use the bathroom? He may need to work on his aim.”

Rose didn’t pay James any attention, instead wondering what in the world was going on. “Adam…What…?”

“I got water all over my shirt. It’s soaked,” he said, holding up the damp piece of cloth in his one hand.

“What did he do, dump it in the sink?”

If Rose didn’t know any better, she would have thought the Doctor sounded jealous. But she had to focus on what was exactly happening at the moment, not what she wished was happening. “Adam, I don’t feel comfortable—”

“Look, Rose, there’s another reason why I came up here." He paused a moment, collecting his thoughts. "You’re beautiful, Rose. Absolutely gorgeous. And I just…I’m sorry if I’m coming on too strong. That’s just my style.” He took a step closer, though he kept his distance from the two of them. “I hear you sometimes…Up here, all by yourself And I just figured that maybe you’re lonely. I know I am.”

Rose tried to get the Doctor’s eyes, but he was looking at the ground.

“And is it wrong of me to want to be close to someone? To…to be with someone? To feel a warm body next to me?”

“He’s right,” James muttered.

“What?” Rose asked, looking at James.

“Spend some time with him. It’s what you both want.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Are you okay?” Adam said, looking at Rose a bit strange. Rose bit her lip, forgetting that Adam couldn’t see James. “Do you need to take medication or something? Because it’s cool if you have to.”

“No, no, I just…” Rose looked at James, but he was walking away from her. She stayed in her spot, yelling, “James. James!” Groaning in frustration, she looked back at Adam who raised his eyebrow.

“Adam, remember?”

Rose bit her lip and nodded.

 

~*~

 

The Doctor leaned against the high ledge, looking out over the town. It was so beautiful under the stars, and whenever he got some time away from the hospital, this was his thinking spot. This spot always made him feel better. But right now, it did nothing. He tried not to think about Rose downstairs with that idiot, but his mind refused to think of anything but. And Donna signing the release forms just made him want to scream bloody murder. 

“Doctor.”

He looked over and saw Rose coming up from the stairway.

“Wow. Can’t say I’m not impressed with Adam’s actions, but it didn’t seem to work, huh?”

Rose leaned against the wall next to him. “I told him to leave. Told him I’m in a relationship.”

“Are you?” he smirked.

She looked at him before rolling her eyes. Teasingly, she said, “I think the exact words I used were ‘I’m seeing someone.’ I didn’t mention that only _I_ can see him.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, this has to be the strangest relationship I’ve ever known.”

“It’s certainly a story.”

“One that no one will believe.”

After a moment, Rose crossed her arms before saying, “Yeah, I haven’t…I haven’t been with someone…with anyone…since John.”

“Tell me about him.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything you want to tell me.”

Rose paused. “He, er, he always had his hair cut really short. Part of me hated it, because I love running my fingers through guy’s hair, but it just…it fit him, you know. Like, it fit his face. And he—he was not a conventional handsome man, but I thought…” she paused and the smile she gave left James almost breathless. “I thought he was the most beautiful man in the world. He had these crystal blue eyes, and this huge nose. It wasn’t wide, more like straight, and…and his mother thought that when he was born he had a birth defect, because his nose was so big, but eventually he just grew into it. And his ears,” she gave a laugh, “his ears would stick out. I loved them. Sometimes I’d call him Dumbo, because of his ears. He hated that, but I always kissed his ears, because I loved them, you know. They made him… _him_.

“He was also—he was quite a bit older than me.” She looked down.

“How much older?”

“Nineteen years.”

James’ eyes grew wide, but he didn’t say anything.

“Yeah, I know,” Rose said, giving a slight grin. “We had heard it all. That he was robbing the cradle, I was looking for a sugar daddy, all of that. But it—it wasn’t, you know? I loved him. And he loved me.

“He was a history professor, but I was never one of his students. In fact, we never met until after I left school. We had a mutual friend who introduced us at a party once. When we first met, I thought he was arrogant and he thought I was stupid.” She laughed again, this time tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped them away before continuing. “The start of the best love stories, eh?” He chuckled, but otherwise remained silent. “Anyway, we kept meeting again and again and again until finally he just asked me out. I was so shocked, I said yes.

“We dated for two years before he proposed. And then…a couple of months after that…” Rose looked down, and James made a conscious effort to reach out and grab her hand. She held on tightly as she continued. “He was picking up milk at a local shop when…when robbers came in. They demanded all the money from the register, but also all the money and any jewelry from the costumers as well. John went along, but this woman, wasn’t much older than me, she said no. Just like that. No. The robbers were shocked and threaten to shoot her. But she refused. When the robber raised his gun towards her, John jumped over towards her to pull her down. He…He was shot instead. Right in the abdomen. The robbers…they realized how deep they were in it, so they took off, leaving everything behind. The woman, she called for an ambulance and stayed with John the whole time.”

Rose sobbed, the tears coming down her face so quickly, you would have thought this happened yesterday as opposed to a couple of years ago. The wounds were that fresh, and James’ heart throbbed at knowing that Rose was in so much grief.

“When they got to the hospital, it was too late. John had lost so much blood. The woman, her name was Amy Williams, and…and she found out she was pregnant that night. She had a boy, which they named John out of memory for him. She said that if John wasn’t there that night, she would have been killed and her son would never had been born. I was…they invited me to their house to see him. They let me hold him.”  

Rose cried on his shoulder, and he let her, letting her get out all of her grief and sadness. She continued crying, soaking his jacket, for an hour, which James thought was good for her. She was finally getting out everything that had kept inside for far too long. When she calmed down enough to keep talking, she said that it all happened three years ago, but she had to stay behind because of paperwork with the lawyers. She wanted to leave London so badly, but John had left everything to her, even though they weren’t married yet. But she couldn’t live in the house that he bought for them, though she did try. But every morning waking up without him made her heart break even more. She had to move.

James listened, not saying a word until it was clear she was done. Finally he said, “I’m sorry, Rose. I’m so, so sorry.” After a moment he said, “He sounds like a hero.”

Still leaning on him, though she’s stopped crying, Rose said, “He was. He saved me so many times, I’ve lost count. He’s my hero.”

James kissed the crown of her head before leaning his cheek on her.

They were silent for a long time, Rose playing with his lapel, as James looked up at the stars. Finally, Rose whispered, “Your sister wouldn’t sign those papers, would she?”

Surprised by the change of conversation, he answered honestly. “I don’t know. I hope not. It won’t really matter if I don’t wake up soon. My brain activity is decreasing every day.”

“I don’t know, that doesn’t sound too bad to me. After all, you are kind of brilliant.”

“ _Kind of_ brilliant?! Rose Tyler, I am a genius!”

Rose laughed, a smile blooming across her face. James held her closer as he smiled as well.

 

~*~

 

The next morning, Rose felt lighter than she had in years. She was smiling again, something that James was quickly taking a liking to; joking around, making fun of the people on the telly. She was even getting progress done on her novel. She would throw ideas out to the Doctor to see what he thought. Sometimes, he would suggest something a tiny bit different and help her write it in. At this rate, the novel could be complete before she had to edit it by the end of the month.

So, of course, it was while Rose was laughing at the Doctor for a suggestion he made that she got the call.

“Rose!” Lydia Moss said happily through the phone. Of course, her realtor agent was always happy, so that didn’t clue Rose in to anything unusual.

“Hi, Lydia.”

“You are going to be the proud owner of a new apartment!”

“What?” Rose said, her body going cold. _Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!_

James came up next to her, placing a cup of tea by her elbow. “Rose? What’s wrong?”

“Yep. They are willing to give you a nice long lease!”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait! Why would they be willing to give me the lease now?” she asked, her fingers numb.

“Oh, it’s a terrible story. Apparently the tenant who was in the apartment before you was in a terrible accident. He’s in a coma. And unfortunately they’re going to pull the plug.”

Rose’s heart stopped as she looked up at the Doctor’s warm brown eyes. Without saying another word to Lydia, Rose hung up and said, “We need to speak to your sister.”

~*~

“Her middle name is Beatrice, but when she was a kid, she told everyone it was Barbie. Er, the first guy she dated turned out to be gay. When she was seven, she got suspended for punching an older classmate.”

On their way to Donna’s house, Rose asked James to tell her everything he knew about his sister. If Rose just went into her apartment and said,  _“Hi, my name is Rose. The spirit of your comatose brother has been with me for over two weeks_ ” Donna was going to throw her out of the apartment. However, if Rose knew something about Donna that no else could possibly know, then maybe Donna would believe her.

“I need something that only you would know, James,” Rose said, getting closer and closer to her house. While the information James told her was interesting and maybe a bit useful, she need to know something that no one else would know.

He thought about it before snapping his fingers. “Two weeks before she married Lee, she made-out with an old university buddy! She never told anyone else. Everyone always referred to him as Captain.”

Rose smiled. “That’ll work.”

When Rose parked near Donna’s house, her hands shook as they walked to the door. Donna was James’ only hope, and Rose hoped so very much that she believed her. Because if she didn’t, Rose had no idea what she was going to do.

James reached out and took Rose’s hand. “It’ll work out. Donna’s brash, but she’s kind-hearted. If you just speak truthfully, she’ll listen.”

“That’s the thing, James,” Rose muttered, not wanting to move her mouth too much. “The truth itself is strange and hard to believe.”

He sighed, but even he knew the truth: if Donna didn’t believe Rose, he was going to be taken off of life support.

Rose rang the bell and Donna instantly opened the door. “Hi,” Rose said, squeezing James’ hand. “I’m Rose Tyler. Are you Donna McAvoy?”

“Yes,” Donna asked, leaning one hand on the doorframe. “If you’re selling something, I’m not buying.”

She went to close the door, but Rose put her hand out, saying, “No, no. I’m not selling anything. I know your brother, James. And I just came to ask you about what happened to him.”

Donna looked at her, as though trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not. “Come in,” she said after a moment, moving out of the way. She pointed to the other end of the hallway, where the kitchen was, as she asked, “So, how did you know James? You must be a doctor as well, because Lord knows he didn’t date.”

“Does everyone have to point that out?” James asked, following Donna.

“Actually, this is going to be hard to, um, well, comprehend, but you have to understand that everything I’m telling you is the truth.”

“Tea time!” Emma yelled, running into the room, Delilah right behind her. Both were dressed up with sparkly tutus and wings. They set up the table with plastic tea cups and fake biscuits.

“Emma! Delilah!” James said, happy to see them, though a bit confused. “What are they doing home? It’s a school day.”

One of them—Rose didn’t know which one—went over to Rose and asked, “Would you like some tea, ma’am?”

“Oh, I would love some,” Rose answered as the little girl pulled her along to the table. Rose sat down as the girls put out the fake dishes and tea cups.

“Abort, Rose, abort,” James said, sitting down across from her. “This is a bad idea. You can’t tell Donna in front of the girls! It’ll freak them out!”

Donna walked closer to the table, a real cuppa in her hand. “I’m sorry, you were saying? How did you know James?”

 “We live in the same apartment.”

“ _Rose!_ ”

“Building. We live in the same apartment building. We had, you know, seen each other every day and I just…I grew fond of him. I got used to his quirks—”

“Oh, of that he has plenty.”

Rose chuckled. “Yeah, he does. And I just…when I stopped seeing him, I grew concerned. Someone told me that he had been in an accident, but I didn’t know much more than that. And I just…I know he had a sister, because he mentioned you often, so I thought maybe I should call upon you to see…you know…what happened…”

James followed their conversation, but he felt like someone was staring at him—which was an odd feeling for him, considering—so he looked around. That’s when he noticed his one niece, Delilah, was looking straight at him with a smile on her face.

“Delilah?” James asked, leaning closer towards her. “Can you see me?”

She smiled brighter as she jumped out of her seat and ran to get something off the counter. When she came back, she placed a jammy dodger—his favorite biscuit—on the plate in front of him.

“Delilah, you can see me, can’t you?” he said, not truly believing it, but loving the idea of it all the same. The little girl, however, didn’t answer but rather ate her own biscuit.

“Why are you telling me all of this?” Donna asked, bringing James back to the conversation his sister and Rose were having.

“Oh, because…well, because sometimes things happen and they are—they’re beyond our control. Our understanding. And…” Rose stood up, trying to come across confident, but fearing that she missed her mark. “I just want you to give James some more time. He’ll pull through this. I just know it.”

Donna put her drink down. “While that’s very kind of you to say, it’s too late.”

“Donna,” James said, standing up and going over to them. “No.”

“I already signed the papers.” Donna leaned on the counter, rubbing her eyes. She was obviously trying not to let her emotions show, especially in front of her daughters.

“Donna, no! No! Donna, I’m right here!”

“We’re terminating life support tomorrow at noon,” Donna whispered, tears welling up in her eyes, no matter how much she fought it, “while the girls are at school. The past three months have been so hard on them, on this whole family.”

“I understand that. I do. But I think you’re making a mistake,” Rose said.

“If I didn’t think it was for the best,” Donna said, that Noble temper kicking in, “I wouldn’t have signed the papers.”

“I believe that. I do. I just think that if you knew—”

“Rose, don’t,” James insisted. He heard every word his sister had said, and when she put it like that…the idea that the family was suffering so much because of him made his stomach twist with guilt. He couldn’t do that to them. He just couldn’t.

“I have spent my whole life thinking I knew what was best for him. My brother is many things, and I love him dearly, but his head was always in the clouds. I watched out for him, because I knew that he needed somebody to. I always bossed him around, telling him how he should dress, what women he should date” –James’s eyes went over to Rose before quickly looking back at his sister—“And his last request was to be taken off of life support, and I’ll be damned if I don’t do that for him.”

“Look, this is going to sound really strange to you—” Rose said, after a moment.

“Rose, no!”

“—But your brother is here right now. I can see him. And he’s telling you not to do it. He doesn’t want it anymore.”

Donna stared at her for a long minute, just staring at the woman in front of her. Finally, when she did speak, she said in an overly-cheery voice, “Okay, girls, who wants to watch _Mickey Mouse Clubhouse_!” The two girls squealed as their mother gently pushed them out of the kitchen and into the living room. “Here you go, Mickey and Minnie to keep you company. There you are.” When they were settled, Donna came back into the kitchen, a storm brewing in her eyes.

“What kind of sick, twisted person are you?” she asked, close to a shout, but not quite as high. Her bluish-green eyes turned darker as she spoke louder. “You come into my house and tell me that my brother is a ghost and he’s right next to you!”

“Yes, I—”

“Get out! _Get out_!” she screamed. “I have cried for hours thinking about this and you looney-bin think that this is a joke! Something to laugh at?”

“No, of course not,” Rose was quick to defend. Though Rose wasn’t an overly confident person, she knew she wasn’t insane and that James really was standing right next to her. However, in her mindset of trying to make sure he lives, Rose didn’t think how his sister would take the news that her brother was indeed begging for his life. “I’m being perfectly serious! James is with us right now!”

“Get out, you psychic freak!”

As Donna stormed towards her, Rose said, “I know about the Captain!” Donna stopped and looked confused. Rose saw this as her window and sped right through it. “I know that two weeks before your wedding to Lee, you made-out with your old university buddy, nicknamed the Captain.”

Donna stood there in silence and Rose thought that she might actually believe. That was, until, Donna screamed, “ _Get out_!” on the top of her lungs.

Seeing that there was no chance that Donna would believe, Rose ran out of the house, trying not to trip on anything, James right behind her.

Donna ran behind her, making sure that she was out. Once she closed and locked the door, she leaned against it, trying to control both her emotions and breath. Once she was okay on the both, she walked into the living room to find her daughter’s glued to the screen.

“How’s Mickey doing?” she asked, sitting down on the couch, right next to Delilah who looked up at her.

“Mummy, is Uncle James staying for tea?”

Donna looked down at her daughter. “ _What_?”

 

~*~

 

“Wow,” Rose said, running out of the house and over to the car. Once they were both safely inside and it was clear that Donna wasn’t going to follow them, Rose leaned against the seat. “Your sister is _not_ a spiritual person, huh?”

“Donna doesn’t believe in what she can’t see,” he said off-handedly, watching something out his window. 

Rose looked out his window, trying to figure out what has caught his attention. In the distance she could see a young man—not too much older than James—playing with a little boy. A young woman and a baby carriage watched as the young man chased his son around in a circle before finally picking him up and blowing a raspberry on his stomach. The boy screeched with laughter, and once his feet were on the ground, begged his father to chase him again.

“I think I would have liked to been a father,” James said, a small smile on his face.

“You would have been a good one.”

He looked over at her with a smile. “You’re only saying that because I’m dead.”

“You are not dead.”

He sighed before looking back at the window. “I am. Donna signed those papers, therefore I’m a dead man walking. I think that if the roles were switched, I would have signed them as well. Like she said, it was my last wish.”

“But it’s not anymore.”

“But in writing, it is. And that’s what she’s going to believe. Because, like I mentioned, Donna doesn’t believe in what she can’t see.”

“There has to be more that I can do. I’ll go to the hospital. I’ll talk to that woman, Dr. Jones. I could—”

“Rose, no,” he said softly.

“I could talk to that prick, what was his name?”

“Harry Saxon?”

“Yeah, him. I could talk to him.”

“No, Rose, they’ll put you in a straight jacket. Everyone you talk to will think you’re nuts. No one is going to believe you.”

“Your niece! She saw you!”

“Yeah, and she has fifty other imaginary friends. No one will believe the word of a five-year-old.”

Rose got an idea. “Wait, there is someone else.”

“Who?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Next chapter is going to NSFW!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ: This chapter is NSFW. If this is not your thing, just read the beginning and the end for plot. 
> 
> Also, this is the first time ever I have written a scene like this. I do hope it's good.

“Well, hello there!” Clara Oswald said as Rose and James walked through the doorway of the shop where she worked, Happy Hauntings. Her chipper face fell as they got closer. “Wait, did you bring your spirit in here with you?”

“Yes, and you were right, he’s alive.”

“Great!”

“But he’s in a coma and his family is going to take him off of life-support.”

“Not so great.” She waved a hand between the two of them, though she was gesturing away from James. “So are you two socializing now? Because the last time I saw you, you were yelling at him. And I assume vice versa.”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, we are.”

Clara smiled. “I can tell. In fact, I’m sensing that he has some intense feelings for you, Rose.”

“Really?” She looked over at him, but he suddenly became interested in his shoes.

“No, I don’t.”

“Oh, I think I embarrassed him,” Clara said with a small giggle.

“I am not. Can we focus, please?”

Shaking her head lightly, Rose figured that she would revisit this conversation later when she was alone. No, not figured. Knew. This was something that she was definitely going to revisit. “Right.”

“Ask if there is a spell or a chant or an electric shock or anything to get me back into my body.”

When Rose asked her, Clara shook her head and said, “You’re asking the wrong question.”

James and Rose looked at each other before looking back at Clara. “Well,” Rose said, “what’s the right question?”

She sighed. “I don’t know why I have this gift. Why I can feel ghosts or spirits or whatever you want to call them. All I know is that they are present. Why they’re still hanging around? Well, that’s their business, not mine.”

“Do I have this gift?” Rose asked.

Clara chuckled at the idea. “No. You definitely don’t.”

Rose raised her eyebrows. “Then how come I’m the only one who can see him and talk to him when no one else can?”

Clara smiled. “ _That’s_ the right question.”

 

~*~

 

Arriving back at the apartment later that night, Rose took off her jacket and threw it over the couch, before reaching for some of the books she had bought when this whole mess began. James followed, but stood just inside of the doorway, watching her.

“What in bloody hell was she talking about? I feel like the answer is right in front of us, we just can’t see it. Maybe it’s in one of these books. There has to be a way to reconnect your body and soul before noon tomorrow.” She flopped down on the couch and began flipping through the books.

“How are you going to solve a mystery that seems impossible to solve?”

“Nothing seems impossible to me anymore. I mean, I feel like everything has been connected. Why did I move into _this_ apartment? Why can I see you and no one else can? I don’t know, but I just—I just can’t help but wonder if it’s somehow all connected.”

“What are you doing?” He asked before sitting next to her.

“I don’t know. Looking for answers, I suppose. Maybe there’s another psychic we can talk to. We can travel to London and see—”

“Where did you get this?” he interrupted, picking up the picture of himself and Donna from when they visited Rose.

Rose closed the book softly as she guiltily said, “I—I’m sorry. I took it from the hospital. I wanted a picture of you and I wasn’t sure I was ever going to see you again.  It’s just…it was your favorite picture, and… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he said, smiling at it. “It is my favorite, you’re right. I love this photo of Donna and me.”

“When I first saw it, you said something about seeing the good amongst all the bad.” She shrugged. “I wanted to remember that and this photo reminded me of that.”

He looked at her before looking down at the picture. “I forget that sometimes. I get so caught up in all the bad that I too forget to look for the good.” He sighed before continuing. “And then I became so focused on becoming a doctor, I forgot to look at anything else. What was I doing with my life? After I started at the hospital, I barely even saw my family anymore, let alone had a social life. It’s no wonder everyone was surprised when you introduced yourself as my girlfriend. I never did anything else but work.”

“James, you’re a doctor. You take care of people. You save lives.”

He nodded. “Yeah, and I saved my mine for later. I just never thought there wouldn’t be a later.” He placed the photo back on the table before sitting down next to her.

“No, don’t say that. We’ll meet with another psychic and see what they—”

“Rose,” he said, slowly, before looking up into her eyes. “I really don’t want to spend the last night of my life talking to a psychic.”

“Okay, then what do you want to do? We could do anything! Go to London, or even Paris. Or we could hop a flight and go to Hawaii!” He laughed, and Rose continued, “We could see America! Or China. Or Australia. Anywhere you want to go, let’s go. As long as I can charge it.”

“I don’t wanna go anywhere.”

“Then what do you wanna do?”

“Anything in the world?” He sat up and looked straight at her. 

She nodded. “Anything.”

James reached out and gently placed his hand upon her cheek. She felt so soft under his palm, and his eyes focused on what he was doing rather than looking into her eyes. He was afraid that if he did so, he would lose his nerve, and he didn’t want that to happen.

Gently, with the same hand, he pushed back some of her hair and put it behind her ear. He then leaned in closer and brushed his lips across her cheek. She shivered in pleasure and he smiled, because the thought that he was giving her goosebumps made him giddy. He placed a loving kiss on her cheek before going over to the other cheek. Then he placed a small kiss on the tip of her nose.

When he pulled back a tiny bit, he saw her eyes were closed and that she was taking deep breaths. He whispered, “A dying man’s wish,” before placing his lips against hers. He didn’t move them—at least, not yet—but tingles when down his spine at just the contact they made. Then, ever so gently, he applied pressure. And when he heard Rose take a deep breath before placing her arms loosely around his shoulders, James really did think he died and went to heaven. Because right now, there was no better place to be than in his and Rose’s apartment, kissing her on their couch.

She applied more pressure, making him groan in pleasure. When she opened her mouth to let him in, he happily complied, not wanting to seem eager, but at the same time not wanting to not do anything.

After a few minutes, Rose was pushing on him lightly, making him lean back, stretching himself along the length of the couch. Rose fell on top of him lightly, trying not to put too much weight on him, but he honestly didn’t care. He loved the feeling of her against him so much, he didn’t even realize her weight.

After kissing her lips—which was becoming his favorite thing to do in the world—James moved his lips to her neck, looking for her pulse. When he found it, he sucked greedily, making her gasp in pleasure. He smirked as he continued kissing her along her neck.

“This has to look so weird,” she said out loud. He looked up and she had her neck leaning back and her eyes closed. The spots where he kissed her were clearly red spots, and he had to admit it probably would look odd to anyone who walked in at that moment. But he also found that he didn’t care all that much.

“How far can we go with this?” Rose asked aloud. It wasn’t something he had even thought of, but perhaps that was a very good question, indeed.

“I have no idea.”

“I mean, can you even…”

Defensively, he said, “I’ll have you know that I can very well manage on my own, thank you very much! In fact, I—”

“No!” Rose laughed. “Not _that—_ though I would have loved to know where you were going with that sentence. No, I mean…to me, you’re alive. You feel alive, you seem alive, you are…alive. But you’re also a ghost. Or rather, spirit. So…I don’t know, can you…?”

“I have no idea,” he whispered against her cheek. “But I’d be willing to give it a try.”

“Me too.”

They smiled before embracing each other passionately.

They’re lips met again and again and it was amazing. Glorious. The angels were singing high up in their clouds. Because this was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

No wait. Rose now running her fingers though his hair was the best thing ever.

His hands, that were on her waist, refused to stay still and started moving up her back. His pinky on his right hand got caught on the edge of her shirt, and therefore started pulling the material up. When his hand touched her skin, he realized just how very hot and soft she was. And the moan that was just made was definitely not from him. No, because he is a man and he does not moan.

“Did you just moan?” Rose asked, leaning up again.

“No?” Why did he answer like he was asking a question?

She gave a giggle. “I bet I can make you moan even louder.”

That one sentence went shooting down to a certain part of his anatomy that wanted to stand to attention. “If anyone can make a grown man moan, Rose Tyler, it’s you.”

Giving what can only be described as a wicked smile, Rose started kissing him along his jaw line, something that he didn’t even realize he enjoyed until this very moment. And her hands were no longer in his hair, oh no, there were now moving down. She was unbuttoning his jacket and started pushing off his shoulders.

“You wear too many layers,” she said, kissing his ear. No she wasn’t kissing it, she was—

Oh! She was nibbling on his earlobe! Oh that wasn’t fair. That was cheating.

He wasn’t exactly sure what she was cheating on, but he was sure she was doing it.

Trying to focus on what she just said, James replied, “It’s like opening a gift,” he said, a smile of his own.

She gave that grin again. It’s a good thing he was lying down, because he was pretty sure his knees would have given out if she grinned at him like that while he was standing. 

James, however, was not taking this sitting down—or lying down, as the case may be. While she was unbuttoning his oxford, he was unbuttoning her purple shirt. He was done before her, and therefore was able to push the shirt back and…

She was wearing a light pink laced bra.

He stared at it for so long, Rose started to laugh uncomfortably.

“Everything okay?”

Her shirt still open, and his almost done, James grabbed her firmly but softly by the back of the neck and pulled her down for a snog of a lifetime.

Wanting so much to be on top, he started to flip them over, but he forgot that they were on a couch so they ended up crashing to the floor, her on the bottom, his weight on top.

“Are you okay?” he asked, wanting to make sure he didn’t hurt her.

“Shut up and kiss me,” she said, now pulling him down for a snog.

They continued kissing, and when Rose finally finished unbuttoning his shirt, she pulled it off of his shoulders, but his arms got caught on the cuff.

With his mouth still pressed against hers, he said, “Wait. My arms. I’m stuck.”

Rose gave a laugh as he struggled, his hands now behind his back. “Oh, all tied up. I kind of like this.”

His eyes immediately went back to hers, stunned. “What?” he squeaked. Did she just…did she just imply…

Oh, Lord.

He grinned, as his right hand tried to unbutton the left cuff. “You know, I could get this done faster if I had some help.”

“I don’t mind watching you struggle,” she said, as her hands went lower than they have before. “Kind of entertaining.”

His mouth opened in shock. Rose, apparently, was full of surprises. “You’re a minx!”

She grinned before grabbing him through his trousers. And it took all of his ability to not come right there and then.

Finally he was free and he immediately bundled the shirt into a ball and threw it off to the side. Then he got to work on taking off her shirt. “For that, Rose Tyler, I’m going to make you suffer.”

“I’m okay with that,” she said, the shirt coming off easily enough.

James started kissing her on her neck, making her moan. He grinned with delight as he went further down, feeling her pulse racing. Licking the spot gently, he kept going.

Rose was starting to flush and her skin was becoming very warm. But she was also amazingly soft under his lips and hands, and she smelt like vanilla. The smell was becoming addicting and truly just Rose.

He reached her bra and without removing it, started kissing around it. He looked up at her, and her eyes were half closed, her mouth making a small ‘o’

“Can I…?”

He didn’t even finish before Rose said, “Yes.”

Arching her back, Rose helped him as he took off her bra. And once it was off her arms completely, he threw it to where his shirt landed and focused on the situation on hand.

Literally.

Taking one of her perk nipples into his mouth, James gently rubbed the other one between the pads of his fingertips. He lightly nibbled on her, much like how she nibbled on his ear earlier, and licked before gently blowing cool air on it. Her hips were going crazy, reaching up and down, moving side to side. He loved the fact that he was making her crazy, because frankly that’s what she did to him all the time.

Switching, he gave attention to the other nipple, nibbling lightly before sucking on it. Rose moaned louder than before, her fingers pushing every hair on his head up. He didn’t care, honestly. She could keep her fingers forever in his hair.

But James wanted to continue on. There was another place he wanted to go so badly he was literally throbbing at the idea. 

Moving down, he kissed her stomach and paid close attention to her belly button, especially when he realized that sticking his tongue into it made her squirm.

“Are you ticklish there?” he asked, an almost evil grin spreading across his face.

Rose didn’t answer, except a slight nod. He made her speechless. God, he was better than he thought.

He got to her pants and slowly button her jeans. When that was open, he looked up at her, silently asking for permission. Once she nodded, he pulled down both her pants and underwear in one go.

Starting at the arch of her heel, he began kissing his way up her leg. He was so close to her, he could smell her, feel her heat. And he wanted nothing more than to kiss her in her most intimate of ways.

“Rose…” he said, asking one last time.

“Please,” she begged.

Before he knew it, he placed his lips right on her most sensitive spot. And her hips went clear off the floor.

“ _Oh my God!_ ” Rose shouted.

“Shush,” he whispered, though he was thrilled. “You do have neighbors.”

“Oh, who cares about the fucking neighbors?” she asked, clearly not caring. It was the first time she ever gave a huge expletive in front of him, and he found it rather hot.

Smiling, James went back down and this time licked his way up. She moaned loudly, either not caring or caring just a little about the fact that the neighbors can more than likely hear her.

Sucking lightly on her clit, Rose bit her lip to keep herself from screaming. James himself was holding down her hips to keep her steady.

Her taste exploded on his tongue, and he found that this was where he wanted to settle down, set up camp, whatever, because _this_ was his favorite spot now.

Sticking a finger inside of her, James found her very hot and extremely wet. Oh, was she that wet because of him? It made him almost giddy to realize that he had this kind of power over her. _She_ wanted _him_ this badly, and he realized just how much he really wanted her.

Moving in time with his tongue and finger, Rose started to moan even louder than she had been. “Oh, more,” she asked. “More.” He added another finger. Still moving in the same rhythm, Rose demanded more. “Please,” she begged. “I’m so close.”

He came to the conclusion that he would never be able to deny her anything, especially in the bed. Even when they weren’t in said bed.

Moving faster, he licked her while his fingers moved quicker and quicker. Her breathing was getting faster and before either of them knew it, she was screaming, her hips clear off the floor.

Rose laid there, completely stunned, but at the same time breathing deeply. James too was taking deep breaths, though for him it was kind of a moot point.

“That was…” Rose started saying before pulling him up gently by his shoulders. She kissed him hard, harder than she did before, and he returned it. When they broke apart, Rose said, “I want to do the same. For you.”

“Rose, I don’t know…I don’t know how this works and…I mean, believe me if I was really here right now, I would not pass this up, but…”

“You want to make sure it works?” she grinned.

He nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“Fair enough. Though can we move to the bedroom? I think I’m getting carpet burns on my butt.”

Laughing, James stood up before helping Rose up. Once she was up, she picked his oxford off the floor and said, “I wonder if I put this on will people see me wear it, or would I look naked?”

As she put it on, James grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer. “Two things: one, you look so incredibly beautiful right now, I didn’t know anyone could look as beautiful as you do. And two, that is a theory I never want you to test.”

She giggled, placing her hands on his bare shoulders. “Fair enough.” She kissed him again, and though it was supposed to be chaste, it suddenly became hot and hard. They headed towards the bedroom, bumping into everything along the way. Books were knocked to the floor, they kept bumping into the walls, paintings were tilted sideways. Finally, Rose’s back hit the bedroom door and she opened it, him making sure his full attention was on the woman in front of him. She walked backwards towards the bed, unbuttoning his pants along the way. When her knees hit the bed, she went down, taking him with her.

After kissing for a few more minutes, Rose pushed down his trousers and pants at the same time with her feet. And when he sprung up, free from the clothes, Rose had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. He was truly an impressive person.

“I don’t think we’ll need protection, do you?” the Doctor asked, leaning over her.

“God I hope not. I don’t have anything here. I wasn’t really expecting to be with anyone.”

“Neither was I. But I’m sure we’ll be okay.” He kissed her again, much softer this time. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah. Just, Doctor…it’s been a while, so slowly, okay?”

He nodded before holding himself and gently going towards her entrance. Just when he placed himself, he kissed her passionately, hoping that she wouldn’t get hurt in the process. As he entered, Rose moaned into his mouth, and he too moaned as she covered him with her warmth. She was perfect, his Rose, and this was the best thing that has ever happened to him. It was all screwy, and completely impossible, but _this_ , this was a thing of beauty.

When he entered completely, he just stood still, feeling her all around him. He looked into her honey brown eyes and he knew she was feeling the exact same thing he was feeling: loved. This wasn’t a shag or a dying man’s wish. This was love being preformed between two people who fell in love in the oddest of ways.

He didn’t think this moment could get any better, but then it did. She moved. Just a tiny bit, she twitched and both of them groaned, the feeling more than anything he had ever felt before. He started moving and then suddenly, he couldn’t stop. The feeling was so amazing, made him feel so alive, he wished he could do this every single day of his life. Because feeling Rose Tyler moving underneath him, hearing her moan, seeing her brow start to sweat as she closed her eyes, was the best thing he had ever experienced.

And it was just getting better. The feeling was escalating to a point where there was no return, and he didn’t want to. This was amazing, fantastic, _molto bene_ , and he never wanted to go back to his boring life again. If by some miracle he did wake up, the first thing he would do was kiss Rose Tyler senseless. Because he would never want to go a day where he didn’t kiss her or tell her how he felt.

“Oh, God, Doctor! Doctor!” Rose shouted, moving along with him. They were picking up speed, and he almost started grunting, but just caught himself. He was sure Rose would have commented on that later.

“Come for me, Rose. Come for me,” he whispered in her ear. She groaned again before taking one of his hands and guiding towards her. When he realized what she wanted, he lightly shook off her hand and found the spot that would make Rose whither underneath him. And sure enough, Rose was clutching him, panting as she screamed for more. Just a little bit more before…

“Doctor!”

He was right behind her, catching her as they both fell. He collapsed on top of her, and it wasn’t until he caught his breath that he realizing he was crushing her. But she probably didn’t even realize it, trying to catch her breath.

“That was…” he started saying, but didn’t know how to finish it.

Not that Rose needed him to finish it. “Yeah,” she said, sighing.

He pulled out of her and she whimpered until he cuddled up next to her.

“That had to be the best out of body experience I ever had,” he said.

She started giggling and her giggling became laughter that became incredibly infectious. “You are such a dork,” she said, snuggling up to his chest.

“I know. You like it,” he said into her hair.

“God help me, I do.”

 

~*~

 

The next morning, Rose rolled over in her bed, a smile creeping up along her face. She reached out and felt the coldness of the pillow. Her smile vanished as she whispered, “Doctor?” When he didn’t answer she bolted up and almost yelled, “Doctor!”

“I’m right here,” he said, sitting in the armchair near the door, fully dressed. He got up and climbed into bed, holding her tightly against him. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

“So you watched me sleep instead? That couldn’t have been entertaining.”

“You snore.”

“Do not.”

“Do too.

“Doctor…”

He smiled down at her. “I love that you call me, Doctor.” He rubbed his nose against her ear as he whispered, “I love it even more when you scream it.”

She blushed deeply, cuddling closer to him. She loved the fact that they now teased each other without all the arguing. “I can’t believe we did that.”

“I can’t believe we did it twice.” He smirked, referring to what happened after they recovered the first time.

She hit him gently in the stomach. “You are such a guy.”

“You know, I don’t think Adam will have to worry about you being alone anymore. I think you made it quite clear that you’re with someone.”

“Oh, I’m sure that if he could have heard you, you wouldn’t be acting so smug right now.” 

“Nah, I think I would.”

Rose rolled her eyes, before getting closer to him. She was so content, so relaxed that she wished she never had to move from this spot. However, reality crashed down around her when she remembered what was happening today.

“What time is it?”

“Eight thirty.”

She pulled back before getting out of the bed, getting her dressing gown as she spoke. “We have to do something, Doctor. As amazing as last night was, it didn’t accomplish anything.”

“I beg to differ.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “You know what I mean. We just…We have to figure something out.” She held some clothes in her hands before saying, “I’m going to take a shower.”

“Is that an invitation?” he smirked.

She grinned. “Not this time.”

When she came out, she found him sitting on the couch, reading one of her books she had on the shelf. She went up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him lightly on the neck. “I was thinking—”

“A dangerous pastime,” he smirked.

She grinned back at him, “I know.” She walked around to the other side of the couch before sitting on the table in front of him. “You remember when we first met and I kept saying you were dead?”

“Yeah, vaguely,” he said with a teasing grin.  

She stuck her tongue out at him as she reached out and held his hands, playing with his fingers. “I have a point.” Seriously, she continued. “I was the one who was dead, not you. And you saved my life, in oh, so many ways. And I want to return the favor.”

 “Oh? How?” he asked, intrigued.

She looked at him in the eyes before saying, “I’m gonna kidnap your body.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go!

“Rose, this is ridiculous,” the Doctor said as he watched her get dressed. After she told him what she wanted to do, she kissed the top of his head before going to the bedroom. He sat there, stunned, for a couple of minutes before following her and watched as she put on jeans. 

“No, it’s not,” she said, putting on her bra and t-shirt. She turned to him and said, “Doctor, if I don’t do _something_ , they are going to kill you. They think it’s a mercy murder, but I know that it’s not. You’re alive!”

“Rose, they have it on paper that if I don’t respond in a three-months time, they have the right to take me off of life support!” he yelled as she walked around him heading towards the living room. “And what’s your plan? Go in there and just walk out holding my body? You know that this is a felony, right? You’re going to go to jail.”

“So?” She grabbed her purse and headed towards the door. He followed her down the stairs and across the street to her car.

“Rose? Rose! This is a terrible idea! You’re going to be arrested!”

“Do you think I care what happens to me?” She said, turning back to face him. “If something happened to you…If you lived and I was sent to jail, I would be happy. Because I would know that you’re alive, and that’s all I want.” She got into her car.

He ran around the other side and opened the door before getting in. “The things that you’d have to know to even _start_ pulling this off—”

“You could help me with,” she interrupted as she started the car. “You could talk me through it.”

“Okay,” he said, rubbing his neck. He sighed as he said, “There’s no way I can stop you, is there?”

“Nope.”

“Fine.” Taking a breath he said, “You’ll need a bigger car. And someone with no morals.”

 

~*~

 

“Rose, do you want to explain to me what is going on?” Jack Harkness said from the passenger’s seat of a mini-van.

Rose called him, asking if he could borrow his brother’s mini-van and take an adventure with her. Not one to turn down an adventure, Jack agreed, but as they drove way over the speed limit, Jack was growing more and more concerned with what her adventure entailed.

“Rose, you haven’t told him?” the Doctor said from behind them. Though he knew his life wasn’t in any danger in the car, he still held onto the headrest of the passenger’s seat. Rose was going extremely fast. “He has to know what you’re plan is!”

“I was going to!” she said, replying to both of them. “It’s just—Not now.”

James looked over at Jack, his face scrunched up. “I swear I’ve seen him before.”

“You saw him at the bar,” Rose whispered.

Unfortunately, Jack heard her. “Saw who at the bar?”

“No one,” she said, glancing over him. “Not important. We’re almost there!”

Making an extremely sharp left, Jack leaned against the door, screaming. A car honked as he asked, “Rose, what in the world are we doing? Kidnapping someone?”

Rose glanced into her review mirror, noting that the Doctor was almost glaring at her.  “ _Tell him_.”

“Rose, be honest, has your imaginary friend come out to play?”

She decided not to answer as she pulled up to the hospital and got a spot, not checking to see if she parked correctly. As soon as she got out of the car, she sprinted to the doors, James right behind. “He needs to know that he’s about to partake in a felony, Rose,” he said.

“I know. And I’ll tell him. I swear.”

When they entered, Jack came running up behind them, panting. “Rose, what in God’s name is going on?”

“This way,” James said, leading them towards a supply closet. He went in first making sure that no one else was around before coming back out. “All clear.”

Rose entered the room and took a cart, per James’s suggestion. Whatever he told her to get, she quickly put on the cart. “You need a blood pressure cuff, and a portable ventilator—that, right there. Yes, that yellow thing.”

“Rose, _what are you doing?!_ You’re taking medical supplies…I don’t…” Jack looked concerned, and also extremely confused. “What is going on?”

Standing up straight, Rose said, “Look, I knew that you wouldn’t come if I told you the truth, and I really need your help.”

He took a step forward and gently placed his hand on her arm. “Rose, whatever you need, you know I would help you. But why are you taking medical supplies?” he shook his head. “None of this makes any sense.”

“My ‘imaginary friend’ is not imaginary. He’s a real person, Jack. And he’s in a coma upstairs and they’re about to take him off of life support. We need to get him out of here and take him someplace safe.”

Jack lowered his arm and crossed them. “Seriously?”

“Yes, I’m being serious.”

“I knew you should have told him,” the Doctor said.

Rose looked over at him, for he was standing behind Jack. “He wouldn’t have believed me.”

“Does he believe you now?”

“I had to get him here!”

“Rose,” Jack said, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Let me take you to the psych ward. People there will help you.”

“We don’t have the time!” She glanced at her watch. “It’s almost 11:30, Jack! He’s going to die in thirty minutes!”

“Tell him I know that this is hard to believe,” James said.

Rose glanced over at him before looking back at Jack. “James…he’s right behind you, and he knows that this is a stretch for you.”

Jack looked over his shoulder before glancing back at Rose. “He’s right behind me?” Jack said, clearly not believing her. He put his one hand behind his back. “Okay, how many fingers am I holding up?”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Jack, we don’t…”

“Either you tell me how many fingers I’m holding up or we’re going to the psych ward, right now!”

“Three!” James said.

“Three,” Rose repeated.

“Four!”

“Four.”

“He’s just wiggling his fingers.”

“You’re just wiggling your fingers.”

James paused. “He’s flipping me off!”

Rose’s eyebrows raised. “Are you flipping him off?!”

Jack looked at Rose, looked behind him before looking back at her. “How…How are you…Okay,” he said, rubbing his forehead. “Maybe sometimes people who have mental disturbances can have psychic moments. But even if he _was_ real, Rose, why are you doing this? You’re going to be arrested! You’re going to go to jail and for what?”

“For James,” she said simply.

“But _why_?”

“Because I love him,” she stated as though it was the most logical answer.

James stood there, grinning stupidly at her. She looked over at him and his smile grew even bigger. “I do. I love you, James.” Before he could respond, Rose turned to Jack, determination steeled throughout her voice. “And I’m going to save him if it’s the last thing I do.”

Rose walked out of the room, leaving the two stunned men in her wake.

Jack ran up to her and said, “Okay, I may not agree with any of this, but I’ll do it. Because if you’re in love with a comatose patient whose spirit has been following you around—I can’t believe I just said that—than I’ll help.”

Rose stopped and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Jack.” She kissed him on the cheek before letting go and turning towards the Doctor. “What do we need to do now?”

A few minutes later they were on the third floor, trying to walk casually, but Rose was in too much of a rush to it to be casual. She almost bolted to the room when it came into her line of vision. Once they were in the room, they walked over to the bed, the Doctor giving instructions to Rose on how to proceed. Jack, however, stood at the foot of the bed, staring at the man lying on it.

“Oh my God,” he said, completely stunned at what was before him.

“He’s handsome, right?” Rose said, lifting his arms carefully as she started to pull the blanket off.

“No,” Jack said before quickly shaking his head. “No, I mean, yes, but Rose…that’s him.”

Both the Doctor and Rose looked at Jack, stopping what they were doing. “Who?” Rose asked.

“I was going to set you up with this guy. Remember a couple of months ago, I tried to get you to come to my friend’s house to meet someone. It was him. My friend and I were trying to set you up with him.”

Rose and James looked at each other, completely taken back.

“…And you bailed on me. But it didn’t matter in the long run, because he got…into a car accident…” Jack said, slowing down when the pieces came into place.

“Is that why?” James asked Rose, not able to take his eyes off of her. “Is that why this is happening? Because we were suppose to meet?”

Rose couldn’t answer, anything she was going to say getting stuck in her throat. Maybe it was destiny or kismet or something that cannot be seen, but only believed. Because nothing made sense anymore, so maybe there was such a thing as destiny and things happening for a specific reason. Maybe she and James were suppose to meet that night, and when he got into the car accident, it left…a whole in the universe or something. Someone, somewhere, wants Rose and the Doctor together, and will stop at nothing to make sure it happens.

But then Rose thought of something on a different note. “Wait, you know James?”

“Yeah. I was good friends with his sister, Donna. We just started communicating again a couple of months ago.”

“He’s the Captain!” James shouted, glad he figured out his little mystery.

Rose looked sharply at Jack. “Your nickname was ‘The Captain’?”

Jack looked shocked. “How did you know that? I haven’t been called that in years.”

“I _knew_ I recognized him! He’s fifteen years older, and slightly heavier, but that’s definitely him!”

“You made out with Donna two weeks before her wedding to Lee?” Rose said, not hearing James.

Jack took a step back. “How did you know—? No one knows that.”

Rose gestured to the Doctor. “James told me!”

Jack looked over towards where James was standing. He looked back at Rose as he asked, “You’re serious, aren’t you? He’s really here?”

“Yes! I told you that!”

“I know, I know, I just didn’t…I mean, I’ll be honest, I thought you were going insane.”

“I did too, for a while. But, Jack, he’s alive. And they’re going to take him off of life support in a little while, so we need to get him out of here before they do that.”

“They’re going to take Donna’s brother off of life-support? We’ve got to save him! What do you want me to do?”

Just at that moment, the door opened and the three of them heard someone talking on their mobile in the doorway. James instantly recognized the voice of Dr. Saxon. “What is he doing here?” James asked, looking over at the clock on the wall. “He’s fifteen minutes early.” He looked over at Rose. “Rose, come on, we’ll need to distract him.”

Rose and the Doctor walked towards the door, and took a step out, watching as Dr. Saxon hung up.

“Hello. Can I help you?”

“Uh, yeah. Hello,” Rose said, trying not to let her nerves show. “I—I’m…”

“Tell him you’re a doctor,” James said, quickly coming to her aid.

“I’m a doctor.”

“Tell him you’re a special consultant from PAC Medical.”

“I’m a special consultant from PAC Medical,” she lied.

“—Dr. Rassilon sent you down for a final evaluation.”

“Dr. Rassilon sent me down for a final evaluation.”

Dr. Saxon stared at her. “I have no verbal or written instructions about that.”

James thought quickly on his feet. “Tell him there’s new evidence to suggest that full functionality can be restored. We just need to run some more tests.”

Rose repeated it word for word, but Dr. Saxon still didn’t look convinced. “Who’s we?”

“My team is downstairs with a signed order from Dr. Rassilon,” Rose lied without being prompt.  

When Dr. Saxon stood up straighter, James took a sigh of relief. “You did it.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of this,” he commented. “You won’t mind if I talk to Dr. Rassilon, will you?”

“No, not at all. You go on, and we’ll wait right here.”

“I can just call him,” he said, taking out his mobile. He put it to his ear, but Rose was growing more and more anxious. She didn’t know what Jack was doing in there, but she hoped that he wasn’t doing something he wasn’t supposed to. But this…prick in front of her was getting Rose’s own blood pressure up, and it came to a head when he smirked at her.

Before she really knew what she was doing, she punched him in the nose before going back into the room.

“Rose!” the Doctor shouted, though he sounded more proud than pissed.

Jack leaned over the bed, looking guilty about something, but Rose barely noticed. “Rose, I—”

“I’m in trouble,” she said, quickly going over to James’s unconscious body. “I just hit a doctor.”

“Not that I haven’t wanted to do that for years,” James commented with a smile. When he looked down at himself, however, his smile fell.

“Not the time, James,” she said, though she flushed with pleasure. She never noticed Jack's guilty expression, nor James worried one. She kept her focus on the door, which slammed opened and there stood Dr. Saxon, holding his fingers to his nose with two security guards behind him. He noticed the covers were taken off of the body, and some of the machines had been moved.

The heart monitor kept going, though the Doctor was the only one who truly noticed that it was slowing down. 

_Beep, beep, beep, beep…_

“What in bloody hell is going on in here?” he asked, as though he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Rose…” The Doctor whispered, looking at himself.

In walked Dr. Jones and Donna, both looking frantic. “What in the world…?” Dr. Jones asked, taking the scene in before her.

“This woman was claiming to be a doctor,” Saxon shouted, sounding smug that she was caught. “She told me that she was from PAC Medical.”   

“I know you,” Donna stepped forward, her eyes narrowing when she recognized Rose. “You were just at my house yesterday.” She looked over at the other man in the room. “Jack?!”

“It’s a bit of a long story,” Jack said. “Though, I’m hoping it gets a good ending.” Jack turned to her, holding something in his hand. “Rose, we have a problem—”

“Rose…”

“Who the _hell_ do you think you are?!” Donna said, coming towards Rose. “Are you trying to steal my brother’s body?!”

“I was only trying—” Rose said, trying to remain calm.

_Beep…beep…beep…beep…_

“Arrest her!” Dr. Saxon shouted.

“Rose…”

“She didn’t actually _do_  anything!” Jack commented.

“She assaulted me!”

“You probably deserved it.”

“Rose…”

“Can someone please tell me what is going on?!” Dr. Jones almost yelled, as everyone in the room started shouting at each other.

“This woman,” Donna said, gesturing to Rose as though she was the most awful thing in the universe, “came to my house yesterday claiming that she can see the spirit of my brother and he was begging her not to have me sign the papers.”

_Beep……beep……beep……beep......_

“Donna, it’s true,” Jack said, taking a step forward.

“Jack, _please_! You don’t think this is hard enough! Now you’re encouraging it?”

“Rose…”

Rose turned towards James, and for the first time since he appeared to her, he was faded. It was like he was an actual ghost, almost transparent. Rose quickly looked over at the bed and noticed that his breathing tube was gone. She had no idea how, but somehow it came out. Maybe Jack accidentally pulled it out when he was trying to find ways to move him.

_Beep………beep………beep………beep_

She looked back up at him, desperation in her voice. “James…”

“Rose, I can’t…”

“James, no! What can I do!?”

“It’s too late. It’s happening,” he said, his voice sounding weaker. He was fading quickly.

Rose could see right through him.

“Hold on,” she begged, tears welling up in her eyes.

“I can’t…”

“Don’t leave me,” she sobbed, the tears refusing to stay.

Then the worse sound Rose ever heard filled the room. A deadline. A straight, loud sound filled the whole room.

“ _Rose._ ”

James was gone.

“ _No!_ ” Rose screamed, " _Come back!"_  Going over the James’s body and Rose did the only thing she could think of: she kissed him. Maybe in some childish part of her mind, she wondered that if she kissed him, he would wake up. For Rose, it was the only option. She had lost so very much, but to lose James might actually just break her. She held onto to his tightly, holding his shoulder and kissed as hard as she possibly could through her tears. 

The guards pulled Rose away, but she wouldn’t go quietly. She was kicking and screaming, “ _Doctor_! _Doctor_! ” as two guards held each of her arms, pulling her further and further from the bed. Donna wiped tears away from her eyes, though she was still looking at Rose with critical eyes. Jack bowed his head. Dr. Saxon held a tissue up to his nose, watching Rose through narrow eyes. Dr. Jones stepped forward.

She stood straight, though her eyes too filled with tears. “Time of death, twelve—”

_Beep……beep……beep……beep……_

She stopped and looked over at the heart monitor. The guards stopped forcing Rose, who stood still, silent for the first time. Everyone in the room looked at the heart monitor. There were spiked lines. There were numbers were showing a heart rate.

“That’s impossible,” Dr. Jones said, standing there in shock.

“What’s going on?” Donna asked.

“That’s not possible,” Dr. Saxon said. “That can’t happen.”

They all held their breath, but the monitor was picking up. Then suddenly…

 _Cough_.

On the bed, James started coughing, taking in deep breaths. Donna and Dr. Jones ran over, one on either side of him. Donna lightly pushed his hair back, asking, “James? James, can you hear me? James?”

Rose took a step forward, but the guards pulled her back. She was so transfixed by the sight in front of her, she barely even noticed the men.

“James?” Dr. Jones asked, checking his pulse. “James?”

“I can’t believe I almost let you go!” Donna said, smiling through her sobs. “James, can you hear me?”

After a moment, he opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling. He turned his head towards his sister’s voice and smiled. “Donna…”

Donna smiled back and through her tears said, “Oh my God! If I wasn’t so happy, I would kill you right now!”

He groaned, closing his eyes. “Oh, I think I bumped my head.”

Donna laughed. “You did slightly more than that.”

Rose tried to take another step closer, but again the men held her back. This time she groaned in frustration. Donna looked up and though she didn’t fully believe this woman’s story, she was so happy right now, she was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“She can come closer,” Donna said, holding onto James’s hand.

The men let go and Rose slowly went over to the side where Dr. Jones was standing. She looked down at James, happy tears in her eyes. Because she was so happy, she didn’t register that James looked confused.

“Hello,” she said, her smile almost ready to burst off her face.

“Hi,” James said, his eyebrows crinkling.

“It’s me. Rose,” she said softly, becoming panicked. He remembered her. Didn’t he?

“I’m sorry, I don’t…” he looked at Donna for help.

“It’s Rose, James. You remember Rose?”

When James shook his head no.

Rose’s whole world plummeted to the ground.

“The apartment?” she said, trying to get him to remember. “The rooftop? Doctor? Clara? Last night?” When he shook his head again, Rose took a step back. “Nothing?”

For the first time, Donna looked at Rose with pity. Rose tried to stop the tears from gathering in her eyes, but it was a useless battle. She reached down to grab his hand, thinking maybe it would help, but when he pulled away, she knew that it was no use. He wasn’t going to remember.

He looked almost frightened as he looked over at Donna, who laid a hand on his shoulder. “Rose,” she said to him again, hoping that it would jog something in his memory. “You don’t remember her at all?”

He shook his head no.

Rose looked at Donna before looking over at Jack, who was in the corner watching. Rose walked over to him and he put his arm around her shoulder as they walked out of the hospital room. Rose sobbed on his shoulder all the way back home.


	10. Chapter 10

About two days later, Rose’s realtor called her. “There’s been a change in plans,” Lydia said on the phone. “The man who owned the apartment before you woke up. The family is giving you the month to move your things out.”

Rose did it in three days. She was back with her friend Sarah Jane, who was surprised to see Rose on her doorstep. “What happened?” she asked, ushering her friend in. “I thought you found a beautiful apartment.”

“Change of plans,” Rose responded, and simply left it at that.

 

~*~

 

**One Month Later**

James walked into his apartment, and although it looked completely the same, there were things that were different. Pictures were in different spots, the furniture had been moved around. He couldn’t understand how nobody noticed the tilted picture in the hallway, nor could he comprehend how it got like that.

But it was good to be home, and it was nice not having his sister hanging over him every minute of the day. Part of the agreement in coming back to his own place was that Donna would leave him alone, even if it was only for a couple of hours. He knew why she wanted to be around him, but he got to a point where he couldn’t take her anymore. Now he could relax among his own things.

The neighborhood was the same as well, though there was this young brunette woman who waved at him every time he passed a store named Happy Hauntings. She never spoke to him, but she always looked happy to see him. He wondered why.

Sometimes he felt like something was missing, but he never knew what. It was like thinking you left your keys at home, but when you found them in your pocket, you thought you left something else at home. He didn’t even know how to explain it to anyone, so he didn’t. When something happened during the day he wanted to tell someone, but he didn’t know who.

The nights were the oddest. As he climbed into bed, he half expected someone to be lying next to him, though he had no clue who it could have been. He wasn’t in a relationship and no one mentioned a girl he may have had been interested in.

A week after being home, Donna stopped by with her daughters and husband, Lee. Jack too tagged along, wanting to see how James was doing in person. Donna insisted on making dinner for him, and since James was no use in the kitchen at all, he let her.

While Lee was helping Donna dice up peppers, Jack and James sat on the couch, watching James’s nieces run around the apartment while the telly played low in the background.

“It’s nice to see this place filled with life again,” James said, raising a beer to his lips.

“Yeah, it is.” Jack said, wondering how much life was here when he shared the apartment with Rose. Changing topics, Jack asked, “When are you planning on going back to work?”

“They told me to take another month off. Frankly, I’m going stir crazy being here by myself, but—” he shrugged.

Jack nodded, understanding that his boss was making him. They started talking about odds and ends when Donna came into the room, holding something. “James, do you have a date tonight?” she asked.

“No, why?”

“Because I just found these on your kitchen counter,” she said, holding up a bouquet of a dozen long stemmed roses.

“Oh,” he said, blushing. “That’s nothing.” He turned back to the television, not wanting to comment on it.

“You bought a dozen long stemmed roses for no reason?” Donna asked, looking as skeptical as she sounded.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

She shook her head. “Dumb spaceman,” she muttered as she walked back into the kitchen, placing the flowers down on the coffee table as she went.

James instantly moved them away from the lit candles before leaning back in his seat. Jack said nothing, though he was watching his friend with an intrigued eye. Why would a single male buy flowers for no reason? They’re not even in a vase, so it wasn’t that he wanted to decorate the house for company. So why even bother?

James picked up the flowers and breathed in their scent before placing them back down. “I really don’t know why I even picked them up,” he said, touching one of the bubs delicately with his fingertips. “It’s like they were…they were the perfect roses, you know. And I just had to have them.”

 _The perfect roses._ Jack just nodded, though his head started coming up with reasons left and right. Rose. He was thinking about Rose. Somewhere in that loony’s mind Rose Tyler was walking around, but he just couldn’t see her. For some reason, he couldn’t remember her.

Even a month later, Rose refused to speak about her time with James, other than saying they got very close. And Jack knew she was in love with him; she said it herself the morning he woke up. He wondered if James ever thought about her, but he never had any concrete proof until now. He bought roses simply because they were “perfect.”

He had been looking for Rose and he doesn’t even know it. 

 

~*~

 

“Rose, he’s looking for you.”

Rose’s head snapped up as she looked over at Jack. They were sitting in a small café that was just off the main road. It was small, but warmly lit and made the best coffee Rose ever had. She came in here to finish her novel, something that has progressed very well in the past month. She had plenty of time, since…

Well, she had more time now.

“What do ya mean?” Hope filled her voice.

“He still doesn’t remember you.” Jack watched as Rose’s shoulder slumped. “But I know he’s looking for you. He just doesn’t remember.”

“Jack, it was just some crazy adventure. Maybe that’s all it was suppose to be.”

“He bought long stemmed roses and has no idea why,” Jack kept insisting, not listening to what Rose was saying. “He just said that they were the perfect roses.”

“Jack, that means nothing.”

“Rose, I _know_ that somewhere in his mind you are there. You are there and walking around and it’s like…it’s like your locked away somewhere. We just have to be able to give him the key to open the door!”

She shook her head. “You’re talking nonsense. He doesn’t remember me.”

“But he will!”

“Jack…”

“Rose, I know that he—”

“I’m moving back to London.”

He paused, stunned. “What?” he asked, leaning forward in his seat. He couldn’t have heard her right.

Rose shifted. “I’m moving back to London. I’m going to live with my Mum for a while. Just while I finish my book and get my finances in order. Then I’m moving somewhere else.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Paris. Maybe America. Maybe the backlands in the African prides, I don’t know.”

“Rose, please, don’t give up on him.”

She looked away, tears gathering in her eyes. “I lost John. Now I’m losing James. I don’t know how much more I can take.”

“He will find his way back to you, I just know it. And he _will_ remember. Or,” he said, an idea just popping into his mind, “you can make him fall in love with you again.”

“Maybe he wasn’t in love with me in the first place.”

“Rose, stop it! He was. There had to be a reason why he came to you and no one else. Maybe you were suppose to meet that night, the night he got into the accident. Maybe this is all kismet.”

She snorted. “I don’t believe in destiny.”

“I do. And I say that you will meet James Noble again, and he _will_ remember you.”

 

~*~

 

Rose was spending her last day in the town of Gallifrey, for she was leaving in the morning. The past month was hard on Rose, and not something that she could live through again and again.

She never saw the Doctor, nor did she see Donna or Dr. Jones. None of them actually. Well, she did get a letter from Dr. Harold Saxon stating that he wanted an apology for her behavior or he was going to sue. The thought of going anywhere near that hospital or seeing any of those people again made Rose’s stomach twist, so she just wrote a letter apologizing. Though she certain that calling him a “prick” several times in the letter may not have been the smartest of choices, but she knew that James would have been proud.

James. Just thinking his name or ‘Doctor’ made Rose want to cry. She missed him so very much. She felt alive with him; the first time she has felt alive in three years. She was happy again, smiling, joking around. James made her better and the worst part of it all was that he will never know it.

But she had to move on. Because that’s what Rose does when she hits rock bottom: moves on. There are more books to write, more adventures out there. Though she was certain none of them would compare to her adventure in her—James’s very own apartment.

She thinks back on how much she hated him when they first met, and laughs at the irony of it. Now she would give anything for one more moment. Just to feel his hand in her's. That was a sensation that she was never going to feel again.

As Rose walked down the main road, heading towards the café she was becoming addicted too, Rose wondered if anything ever would go her way. Would she ever find a love and stay with him? She lost John to his damn heroism and now she lost James to a cruel twist of fate. When he was a ghost, he spent all of his time with her, but now that he’s alive he doesn’t even remember her. Sometimes Rose hated irony.

Like seeing him in the café. It was clearly him, sitting at a table, reading a book. Even though he wasn’t wearing his pinstripe suit—instead a jumper and a pair of jeans—Rose knew that hair. She would recognize it anywhere. She became personally acquainted with it, and had often dreamed of running her fingers through it again.

But she didn’t want to go up to him. Well, that wasn’t true, she _did_ want to go up to him and ask him why didn’t he remember her. Their bantering and teasing, her telling him all about John, them running around town trying to find anything that would trigger his memories. How could he not remember any of that?

Instead, she walked up to the counter, and ordered her drink, trying not to look his way. Maybe if she left quickly, he wouldn’t—

“Watch it!” she said when someone bumped into her. When she noticed that it was Jack, she started to greet him, but he just winked at her before walking out of the shop.

Rose watched him confused, until she turned back and there was James, standing right in front of her.

“Hello,” he said, a small smile on his face.

“Hi.”

They were silent. He fidgeted. Rose played with the strap of her purse. 

Finally, James asked, “You were the woman, right? In the hospital?”

Rose nodded. This was harder than she thought.

“We know each other?”

“Yes,” she barely whispered.

“How did we meet?”

She wanted to laugh, but she knew it would be humorless. “It’s a long story, and I don’t have the time. Sorry.”

He nodded before holding out his hand. “Well, I--I hope I see you around.”

This time she wanted to sob. “Me too.” She put her hand in his and gave him a quick shake before letting go, getting her drink and almost running out of there.

What she didn’t notice was that James stood still for a moment, weeks of missing memories zipping back into his head. It was like a chest was opened and suddenly he could remember everything that happened.

_“Who the hell are you?!”_

_“Me? Who the hell are you?”_

*

 “ _Listen, miss, I think what’s happening to you is simple, yet complex at the same time. You have fantasized, quite convincingly that you’ve rented this apartment, when it fact, it belongs to someone else.”_

_*_

_“Will you just go?!”_

_“I am not going anywhere.”_

_*_

_“Well, there is definitely a spirit. And it’s with us right now.”_

_“Oh, tell us more, Cleo.”_

_“It’s hostile. It wants you out.”_

_*_

_“Who’s John?”_

_“He was my fiancé.”_

_*_

_“Good. Let’s find out who I am.”_

 *

And faces zipped through his mind, Clara—the young woman who waved to him, her name was Clara; the prick Adam, and seeing Dr. Jones and Dr. Saxon. Getting frustrated when Donna couldn’t see him or feel him, but he could remember the first time Rose touched him and how his heart pounded in his chest.

How beautiful she looked when she was yelling at him, and how much she wanted to help him when they found out he was actually alive. And of course, how could he forget their bantering and teasing?

 

_“After all, you are kind of brilliant.”_

_“Kind of brilliant?! Rose Tyler, I am a genius!”_

*

_“You are such a dork.”_

_“I know. You like it.”_

_“God help me, I do.”_

*

And being with her…How could he forget _that_? That was the best night he ever had, the best experience and he just…he _forgot_ it? How?

One thing was for certain: he wasn’t going to let her go again. Never again was he going to let Rose Tyler walk away from him, and that include right now. Leaving his things behind him, he went running out of the door, hoping that he didn’t miss her. He was so happy when he saw her blonde hair going through the crowd.

“ _Rose_!” he shouted, her name sounding so good on his lips.

She turned around and stood there stunned as he came running towards her. She dropped her coffee, getting her pants and two other’s clothes dirty in the process, but she didn’t care. She ran towards him, smiling as big as she could.

Once they were close enough, they went into each other’s arms, so happy to be in each other’s presence again. James held on tight, not wanting anyone in on their moment. He just got her back and he wasn’t going to share her with anyone, not if he could help it.

She leaned back, but not too far back as she said, “You remember?”

“Everything, Rose. I remember everything. And I’m not going to forget a moment of it, ever again.”

With that said, he gently took her face into his hands and leaned down, kissing her as passionately as he could. He loved her, more than he loved anyone else and he wanted her to know that. Know that he cared for her and wanted her and never would he want anyone as much as he wanted Rose Tyler.

As she wrapped her arms around him, she heard someone whistling while another person called that they should get a room. When they pulled back, they were a bit embarrassed to see that they had formed a crowd, though Jack was there a moment later, telling everyone to move on, nothing to see. “Although,” he said with a grin, “I’ve heard there is a very nice apartment that way that could accommodate both of you. Just saying, I’ve heard rumors.” He winked.

The Doctor looked down at Rose. “Hmm,” he said with his own grin, making Rose’s heart pound, “maybe we should look into it.”

She gave him a tongue touched smile. “I’ve heard it has the perfect roses in there as well.”

His eyes widen as he realized that he had indeed bought roses. “I knew I was missing something,” he said, holding her tighter. “It was you. I was looking for you all along.”

“And now you found me,” she smirked before turning towards his apartment. “And I think I’d like to see these perfect roses.”

He smiled before leaning down. “Well, I already found mine, body and soul.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story! It means so much to me that people have enjoyed this and left feedback! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. <3


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